Up in SMOK-Volume 1
by Falchion Wielder
Summary: Team SMOK, a new Beacon team made up of two childhood faunus friends with trust issues, one who had her parents killed by White Fang members, and the other, someone who just wants to be the best she can be. Four girls thrown together by mere chance, and they certainly won't make life at Beacon boring. Let's see what follows their new lives... Complete!
1. Two beginnings

**Hello, and welcome to my first ever story here! Of course, since this is my first story, constructive criticism is welcome, just please, for the love of god, don't make it rude or anything, if this isn't that great, just tell me what I need to do to get better, and I'll try my best!**

 **This story is rated T mainly just out of safety purposes, but there will be some strong language every now and then. This story also takes place in team RWBY's SECOND year, so the events in season 3 hadn't happened... well, yet at least, heheh.**

 **Now, about the main premise of the story; this story is about my own team, simple as that. I know that there are a lot of these out there (obvious as hell fact is obvious as hell), but I hope mine might be able to separate itself from those, and not just be "one of those types of stories".**

 **But anyway, I'm not gonna waste much more of your time (if you even took the time to read this that is), so let's just get on with the story! ENJOY! (Or don't I guess, your decision)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the story and team SMOK (Smoke)... I mean really, if you thought otherwise, get mental help, please**

* * *

Vale is a big place, lots of people, huge buildings, overall a place that you could get lost in your first time going threw if you're not careful. But, while big city's such as Vale are great to see, big city's also seem to have some type of issue when it comes to crime, specifically robberies, whether it's building robberies, or just straight up taking something from an individual and running off. And if you're new to the city, it can be quite the rude welcome.

And here's an example:

'Why did I have to leave without Alex to show me around, ugh, this is why I have trust issues', was the thought going threw the head of the newest victim of said rude welcome.

A young teenage girl, around sixteen years old, wearing a navy blue short-sleeved jacket with a black undershirt, black leggings, and black knee high combat boots, and blue bracelets on her wrists was running threw the streets (well sidewalks more like, but just roll with it), searching for the low life that had taken one of her most precious belongings; her mother's necklace. The girl had waist length silver hair that was slightly wavy and dyed a sort of metallic black at the bottom, and her eyes were like a blood red crimson. Her eyes would probably be the first thing to jump out at you, if it weren't for another, just as unmissable detail:

This girl was a faunas, and she had the slightly gray cat ears on the top her head to prove it.

And that's probably why she was the one to get robbed tonight. You see, faunas aren't exactly like "normal" society, because they are not "qualified" to be seen as exactly that, or so most "normal" people would more than likely tell you. Faunas, for as long as they've existed, have pretty much been the laughing stock and the punching bag of the world, and just because of how they were born. They've always been seen as nothing more than literal animals, with the exception of precious few people.

There are some faunas who have just decided to give up the fight for equality and respect, and just try to live as good of a life as they can, but there are still those brave few that still do pursue the fight. The most notable of these faunas are an organized group named the "White Fang", but they don't exactly take the peaceful route for equality anymore, not like they once did at least. The White Fang at the beginning were a peaceful protesting group, they went marching down the streets, with signs in hand, shouting and protesting for equality and rights. But most humans witnessing these events weren't always approving of it, and "things" happened during these events.

Things like riots, things like shootings, things like beatings, and pretty much anything else that had anything to do with physical harm. And eventually they just couldn't take it anymore. After the original founder of the White Fang stepped down, a new one stepped in, and he did not exactly have peaceful intentions. He quickly turned the White Fang from a peaceful group, to a very dangerous threat to life. He turned their protest marches into robberies, assassinations, and pretty much anything else that could be put under the category of threatening.

And now, after years of this, the White Fang got the respect they wanted, but it was not out of understanding, but out of fear, and it also has served to only further the stereotypes that say that faunas are nothing more than just animals.

And now, here's an unfortunate and undeserving victim of those stereotypes, running threw the city desperately to find the one that took her necklace that was given to her by her mother before she died, she couldn't lose it, she had to find it!

She felt she was on the right track for the most part and keeping up well, her cat ears giving her better hearing ability, making it less of just a blind run threw the city, looking for some random guy.

She had been running for a few minutes now, looking at just about any sign that could get her to her robber, after all, she absolutely HAD to find this guy, she can't let her mother's necklace be straight up stolen, just because of her own carelessness, she couldn't let her memento of her mother get away!

As she rounded the corner of a building to go down yet another street to search, she was met with an unexpected, but relieving sight.

The same robber that had taken her necklace was stopped in front of four other girls, and looking every which way, his path effectively blocked. One girl had short brunette hair with red tips with a way-to-big looking scythe as a weapon drawn, another girl had long, messy golden hair with what looked like gauntlets on around her wrists, and the other girl had long raven hair with a sword drawn at her side.

But the last girl is what caught her attention. The last girl had long, snow white hair in a side ponytail with a rapier in hand, and in a duelists stance. 'She's a Schnee, isn't she?' she thought with wide eyes.

The faunas girl recovered rapidly and she could tell, judging by their weapons, they were huntresses, or at least in training. 'I've never met any other hunters or huntresses other than Alex before, cool' she thought. She normally would've tried to get a better look at what they actually looked like beyond that prediction, but right now at this moment, she didn't really care, she just wanted to get her freaking necklace back, and get back to her hotel room with her sister, and just be done with this night.

Just as it looked like the robber was going to try to make another run for it, she ran up to him and swiftly threw a punch his way, the man having no idea she was coming, and hit him squarely in the jaw, completely blindsiding him. As he was still staggering back, trying to regain his balance, she activated her own weapons. Her bracelets expanded a little before azure colored blades came out of them, making her bracelets into wrist blades of sorts. She looked at the four girls, all of which looking at her wide-eyed, with their jaws hanging slightly open in surprise at her unexpected entrance to the scene, and she mentally made a note to thank them for their interference with the robber.

She looked back at said robber with anger very evident in her crimson eyes, seeing that he had just about regained his balance, but still hadn't gotten over the shock of the sudden blow.

"Enough", she said in a low voice, vexation very easy to pick up in her tone, "I'm done with following you around this stupid city. Give me back my necklace, and I promise you you'll get out of here without the need of an ambulance."

The man chuckled at hearing this. "You think you can actually beat me YOURSELF? You're a little girl, with toys a bit to dangerous for you to play with at your age. Sure, you got a good hit on me there, but that was only a cheap shot, I doubt a freakish kid such as yourself could actually take me straight on."

"Let us handle this", the brunette behind her spoke up, "We can take care of him and get your stuff ba-"

"I don't need your help!", the silver haired girl snapped, cutting the scythe wielder off while glaring at her, "I can take him by myself just fine."

"Well at least you got fire kid, I'll give you that", the man cackled, "but I'm afraid that will only get you so far in the real world, freak. But if you really insist on it, than I can spare some time to teach that to you personally.", he said, taking out a gun from his pocket and pointing it directly at the girl.

Just as he was about to cock it and fire, someone jumped down from the little shop they were in front of, landing gracefully and quickly charging at the man, with purple hued daggers in hand, swinging the dagger in her right hand down in a vertical slice.

The man yelped, jumping back at the last second and narrowly avoiding the strike, but his gun wasn't so lucky, as it was knocked out of his hand, and slid across the street away from him.

The faunas girl was surprised at first at the new arrival, but quickly recovered to observe who it was. The new entrant had jet black hair that went slightly down past her waist, and her eyes were a misty gray. She was wearing a long-sleeved black top that showed the bottom of her stomach, tight blue jeans, and black boots that went halfway up her shin's. The new girl was around seventeen years old, and was also a cat faunas, as her own, black cat ears on top of her head was any indication.

The silver haired girl teen immediately recognized who it was, and I slight smile crossed her lips. It was her childhood friend, Koel Marceleine.

"Hey Koel, how did you know something was going on?", she asked.

"I just have a feeling something is always going on when it comes to you Silver," Koel replied in a matter-of-fact tone, "It's never a surprise when you're in some kind of trouble, believe me."

The robber meanwhile was starting to have second thoughts about the whole situation, now trying to think of a way out of this since he didn't have his gun now. "Alright, this is not worth it. Here, take your stupid oh-so-precious piece of jewelery already.", He said, throwing the necklace down on the ground, turning around and running from the scene, leaving his gun behind in the process.

The six girls watched him run, figuring that chasing after him again wasn't worth it. As they all deactivated and put away their weapons, Silver walked and picked up the necklace, putting it back on and clipping the ends of it around the back of her neck. She tilted her head down, closed her eyes, and let out a long sigh of relief.

"You always have perfect timing, don't you Koel?" She asked Koel, her eyes still closed, and Koel only smiling bashfully in response, blushing slightly.

Silver turned around to face the four other girls with a slight smile, "Thank you for your interference as well" She said in a grateful, yet vigilant voice, "If you hadn't gotten in his way, I probably would've been chasing shadows all night."

The four girls glanced at each other briefly, and then the brunette stepped forward.

"No problem, we're supposed to help with stuff like this." she said.

"Well still, thank you. This necklace means a lot to me, I don't know what I would've done if that guy got away with it." Silver said.

With that, Silver and Koel turned and started to walk back to their hotel, but a glyph appeared in front of them, stopping them.

"What!?" They both exclaimed in surprise.

She and Koel whipped back around to look back at the four supposed huntresses with wide, alert eyes, seeing that the white haired girl had her hand outstretched towards them. 'It was her that made that glyph appear wasn't it? Of course it was the Schnee' she thought with rancor.

"We're sorry, but you're going to have to come with us real quick." the predicted Schnee said, no emotion heard in her voice, it almost sounded automatic.

Koel instinctively took a step back with wide, startled eyes, while Silver put her arms slightly up, suddenly ready to activate her wrist blades again.

"...why?", Silver asked, misgiving obvious in her eyes and voice.

"Don't worry", the raven haired girl said, trying to reassure the now very on edge girls, "we're not taking you to some terrible place or whatever you were thinking, we're just authorized by our professors at Beacon to take people like you to Beacon for questioning. It's not smart to literally run and jump into a situation such as that one, no matter what had happened to cause it."

'So they are huntresses, or training to be at least'

And Silver had to admit, she had a point. She hadn't really thought about any possible consequences that could've come out of it, and she was sure that Koel was thinking the same. She made sure to think this situation threw however, and sighed.

"...fine, whatever."

She was about to start walking towards the four girls, but was stopped by Koel grabbing her arm and turning her around to face her. "Silver, are you SURE" Koel whispered, distrust prevalent in her voice, "They're HUMANS, and one of them is a Schnee for crying out loud! Do you really think we can trust them?"

"I know Koel," she responded with her own whisper, "But if we just try to oppose them, we'll cause more issues than we would if we just go with them. Don't worry, we'll be fine."

Koel gave her an objective look, but knew she was right, and sighed in defeat. "Alright, I trust you."

"Then let's go, the longer we're here, the more time we're wasting!" The blonde exclaimed, turning on her heels, and walking off towards Beacon, the rest following, Silver and Koel lagging behind them just a bit, both thinking why they needed to go with them in the first place.

* * *

"Just wait in here and relax for now, a professor will be here in a few minutes." Was all they were told, before the four huntresses in training left them after dropping them off in an interrogation room of sorts.

'Relax? Really, you tell us to relax after dumping us into an INTERROGATION room? Give us a break.' Silver thought in annoyance.

Koel was sitting in a chair in front of a table, looking quite nervous to say the least, while Silver just stood in the back corner of the room behind her, leaning on the wall, with a look of indignation plain on her face.

After a few minutes, the door swung open, revealing a mid-to-late 30's looking woman with short and slightly curled hair, and behind her was a middle aged, maybe older, man with gray hair and glasses with a walking cane in one hand, and a mug of coffee in the other, and they walked in towards the two faunas girls.

The woman wasted no time in questioning them. "So one of our teams informed us that the both of you confronted a burglar out on the streets. Do you have any idea what the consequences could've been? Did you even think of anything that could've happened to you, or the team out there, or the people and buildings around you?" She relentlessly interrogated the two.

Koel averted her eyes to the surface of the table, unsure of how to answer the constant questioning, a blush of embarrassment coming to the surface of her cheeks. Silver, on the other hand, just shrugged and looked down to the floor. "All I have to say about it is that nothing actually DID happen." Silver responded in a low voice, annoyance still clear in her speech. "Besides, we can take care of ourselves, we have weapons for a reason, it's not like we're completely defenseless." She said, looking back at the blonde professor with narrowed eyes.

Before the woman could again go on relentlessly, the man sat down in the chair opposite of Koel, placed his mug down on the table, and cleared his throat. "Now, need to get so uptight," the man reassured in a calm voice, "We just wanted to be sure that you understand the possible results that could have come out of your actions."

"But I do have a quick question for the two of you," he said, the two teens now looking at him curiously, "Do you know who I am?"

Koel looked confused at the seemingly random question. No she did not know who this strange man was, but after a moment of confusion from both the girls, Silver answered his question.

"You're professor Ozpin, headmaster at Beacon Academy." Silver replied in a flat voice.

"And you're Silver Porcello, sister to one my greatest students here, Alexandrite Porcello. You're sister has sent me countless amounts of videos of you sparring, fighting, and training," Ozpin told her with a chuckle at the end, "I have one more question for you. Do you have any interest in coming here to Beacon?" He questioned.

Silver looked at him blankly for a moment, before responding. "Yes, I plan on applying to come here in about a year."

"As I figured," Ozpin responded, "You have quite the teacher, and you have quite the skill set for someone your age, it would be a shame to see it not be utilized. Well, I have one more question for you then."

He waited a few moments before standing from his chair and looking directly at Silver, looking her in the eyes.

"How would you like to come to my academy right now?"

* * *

 **And that's the first chapter! Again, if it wasn't that great, say what needs to be done, and I'll try to do what I can. If, by some chance, you did enjoy it and want to see more, first of all I thank you, and second, I'm not sure how often updates will be. After all, I'm a high school student in his junior year, so things are going to get pretty hellish for me pretty soon, so updates might fluctuate in frequency a bit, but I'll TRY to keep an even somewhat decent updating pattern.**

 **But now, I've pretty much said all I want to say for now, so until next chapter, CYA!**


	2. Welcome to Beacon

**DISCLAIMER: HEY IDIOT, I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT THE CHARACTERS, WHAT ELSE DID YOU THINK!?**

 **Hey what's up everybody? I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, so here's... well the second one. I'm not gonna say too much, cause I don't have much to say, so read on and enjoy (OR DIE)!**

* * *

"How would you like to come to my academy right now?"

As soon as those words left Ozpin's mouth, Silver's eyes widened considerably, and her jaw dropped slightly. ' _...did I REALLY here this man_ _correctly_ _?_ '

Silver, after a few moments of speechlessness, finally gathered her thoughts, and transferred them to words at last. "You want ME to enroll into the top training academy in the four kingdoms, when I'm a full year under-aged?"

Ozpin chuckled. "If I didn't, I would not have asked. Like I said, your sister has sent me several videos of you, and since you're here right now, showing the bravery to stand up to random criminals, despite how foolish it might be, why shouldn't I, or you for that matter, take advantage of it?"

Silver was speechless again, thinking about what she had just heard. Of course, she would freaking LOVE to go to Beacon a year early, but at the same time, she knew what it would do to her publicly, at least around the academy. It would make her look like someone special, and she really hated being put into some type of spotlight.

But, in hindsight, that seemed like a very minor reason at this point to pass up such a major opportunity.

Before she could respond however, Ozpin spoke up again. "Besides, you won't be the first student here that enrolled a year or two early. In fact, the leader of the team that brought you here, the brunette girl, is only sixteen years old, just like you. And she enrolled LAST year at that."

Silver was impressed at hearing this, and made her mind up. "Professor Ozpin, I would be honored to come to Beacon. Thank you so much for this opportunity."

Ozpin smiled. "Of course Ms. Porcello. It's nice to have you along. Be sure you're here tomorrow so in a couple days you'll be ready for initiation."

' _Well that's convenient timing'_ Silver thought with amusement.

But Silver still had one more thing to clear up. "I have one question though. Can Koel come with me? She also has wanted to go to Beacon, so if I get this kind of opportunity, she should as well."

Koel had been completely silent up to this point, but she gasped slightly at Silver's words. She turned to Silver with wide, but thankful looking eyes.

Ozpin thought about this for a second, then answered after a bit. "Team RWBY did say she was the one to knock the criminals gun away. So, yes, she can enroll with you. But of course she will still have to make initiation. If she can do that, she's in."

Koel gasped louder at Ozpin's words this time. She turned back around in her chair to face Ozpin. "Oh my goodness, thank you so, so much for this Professor Ozpin! I promise, you won't regret this." She then blushed slightly at hearing how loud she spoke.

Ozpin chuckled. "No problem. Just hold up your end of this bargain, and make sure I don't regret this."

Koel nodded her head. "I'll do what I can"

Silver smiled slightly, then turned back to Ozpin. "We'll be here tomorrow. So, are we done here?"

"Yes, you may go now." Ozpin answered with a smile.

They nodded and headed out of the interrogation room and back to their hotel. As soon as they were outside, Koel jumped at Silver and embraced her in a big hug. "Thank you Silver!"

Silver laughed giggled a but, then embraced her back. "No problem Koel. Besides, I wouldn't want to go to Beacon without you if I had the chance."

They broke out of the embrace and started back to the hotel, big smiles on both of their faces.

Meanwhile, Ozpin and the woman, who's name is Glynda Goodwitch, were also walking out of the room, watching the two leave. "Are you sure about this?" Gylnda asked Ozpin, "I mean, this is two years in a row that we are plucking someone off the street a year or two early."

"Well nothing… terrible has happened with Ms. Rose And team RWBY. And I'm confident that Ms. Porcello will keep everything under control… for the most part at least." Ozpin answered, taking a sip of his coffee.

Glynda gave him a skeptical look, but ultimately complied, not like she really had a choice in the matter anymore.

* * *

After a few minutes, Silver and Koel got back to their hotel room. As they opened and closed the door, they heard a very familiar, sarcastic voice. "Gee, I wonder where you two have been."

They jumped and saw the source of the voice. They saw a woman that was slightly older than them by about six-to-seven years. She had brunette hair that went halfway down her back, and forest green eyes. She was wearing a denim jacket that was unbuttoned, and thus, showing her black tank top underneath, denim shorts, and high top blue and red Vans (I can't think of my own clever name for her shoes, so I just took Vans, sue me) and black and blue high socks that went up just below her knees.

They immediately recognized the older woman as Silver's older sister, the previously mentioned by Ozpin, Alexandrite Porcello.

And they also immediately started internally panicking, trying to figure out a way to explain what exactly happened in their night.

Koel blushed lightly and looked down to the floor, while Silver chuckled nervously, and rubbed behind her neck.

Silver decided to try her luck at explaining what happened. "Heheh, well, it's uhh, kind of a funny, and long story Alex. Let's just say that… well, a lot happened."

Alexandrite stared at them for a while with a blank look on her face, and Silver and Koel started getting progressively more nervous. But then, Alex's blank look turned into a smirk directed at the two younger faunas'. "Like the both of you getting accepted to Beacon?"

The silver and black haired girls both gaped incredulously at Alexandrite. "H-how did you know?" Silver asked.

The brunette faunas giggled. "I got a message from Ozpin about everything that happened. The burglar, you two standing up to him, even if it was a little foolish, you being to taken to an interrogation room at Beacon, and finally him offering you two to go to Beacon. I knew you two had in you to get into to Beacon. I'm really proud of you guys." She said, a big smile coming to the surface of her face.

Koel and Silver were speechless, so they didn't say anything, but instead ran up to Alexandrite and hugged her tightly. "Thanks Alex, we couldn't have done without you!" They both said in unison.

Alexandrite giggled again, and hugged the two girls back. "Well I didn't do EVERYTHING for you girls, I probably can't take all the credit for how good you two are… but I will of course."

They shared a little laugh, and then broke apart from their embrace. "Alright, it's really late, and it's obviously been a really long night for you two. Let me guess, Ozpin told you to be ready to go to Beacon tomorrow, right?" Alexandrite asked, and the two nodded in confirmation. "Well then, off to bed with you two, you'll need all the sleep you can get, and then some before you go tomorrow."

This time, Koel asked a question. "Will you be going back to Patch by yourself then?"

"Yeah, I guess, but I'm not leaving for a couple more days, so I'll be here if you need any help getting set up around the academy. But I'm positive that you two will be just fine. Just stay near each other, the crowds their with all the new students can get you a bit lost."

They nodded, then started getting ready for bed, Koel and Silver thinking eagerly about the next day, while Alex was a little nervous for the two. 'I really hope they don't run into too much trouble there, I remember there are some serious assholes that don't take too kindly to faunas… ugh I'm sure they'll be fine though, they know how to deal with crap like that, they'll… they'll be fine.'

* * *

(THE NEXT DAY)

After waking up, they immediately ate breakfast, and then Koel and Silver started getting all their stuff re-packed, so they can get to Beacon as soon as possible.

When they were just about all packed and close to ready to go, Alex spoke up about the one thing that had been nagging at her throughout the night. "… I hope you two know what could happen when you're there. You know, being faunas and all." She spoke in a timid voice.

Silver stopped briefly, then sighed. "Yeah, we know. We talked about it a bit last night. We know the risks of going without any type of protection, but you know we can handle it if need be. We'll be fine."

"I know you two can handle it normally, but those people at Beacon, they don't mess around. They can get under your skin pretty fast in some very annoying, humiliating, and downright awful ways. Those people do more than just talk, they can go after you with words, AND action. I just hope you know what exactly you are getting yourselves into."

This time Koel tried her hand at reassuring Alex. "We know what to expect. We'll be ready. We promise, you don't need to worry about us. If there's something you need to know and be worried about, we'll call you. But I'm sure everything will be fine."

Alex thought about what Koel said, then let out a small chuckle. "Heh, be careful what you say Koel, those are famous last words."

The rest of the morning went by in a flash practically, and before they knew it, Silver and Koel were on the airship, waving goodbye to Alex. As the airship was taking off towards Beacon, Alex sighed and a stray tear rolled down her cheek. "Be safe you two, please. She wispered.

* * *

"Nervous?" Koel asked Silver, as she was looking out the window.

Silver sighed. "A little, but what else would you expect? And I know that you don't feel any different."

"Well obviously. It's not very easy to go to some place completely new, with so many new people, especially when you, and the person you're going with also has trust issues."

Silver chuckled. Heh, yeah, that won't be any fu-"

"Hello and welcome to Beacon." Silver was cutoff by a hologram of a familiar blonde woman.

"Hey, that's the woman from last night." Koel realized.

Silver scoffed. "Nah, really now?" She asked, the most epic case of sarcasm dripping from her voice.

Koel turned to Silver and slapped her arm before they turned their attention back to the hologram. "You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy. Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future huntsmen and huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world."

Her hologram disappeared, leaving all the students-to-be to gossip among themselves about what was to come. "Sounds like a lot of responsibility for us." Koel said.

Silver blew a raspberry at that. "You're really heavy with pointing out the obvious today aren't you?" Silver asked with a smirk before she looked back out the window.

Before Koel could think of a fitting comeback, Silver beckoned her over to the window. "Koel, look at this view!"

Koel did as told, and looked out the window next to Silver, a look of awe coming to her face quickly. "Oh my goodness! I can even see Signal from here!"

"I know, I guess home isn't that far after all." Silver said with a smile.

* * *

The airship soon landed on the grounds in front of Beacon. As all the students filed out of the airship and walked towards Beacon, Silver and Koel decided to walk off to the side of the crowd to take in the view.

Beacon looked… well, how would you put it exactly? It honestly looked more like a castle or palace than an actual academy.

Silver and Koel looked at the monstrosity of an academy in front of them, their eyes wide with amazement. After a few seconds of shocked silence, Silver broke it with her awed filled voice.

"… this is it."

* * *

 **... you might say it's really unoriginal for me to put Glynda's same line in here as it is in the show, but come on, do you really think that her line would change in just a year, cause remember, this story takes place in team RWBY's second year. But anyway, if you're still interested in the story and want to see chapter 3 (RHYME!), then let's talk about future chapters real quick.**

 **We're going to be introduced to the third character, and then the fourth in chapter four, and then it'll go back to Silver and Koel for initiation. Simple as that. And like I said in the first chapter, I'm not sure how often updates are gonna be, and how consistent they'll be. School sucks, what else do you need to here... er, READ I mean, I guess... I don't freaking know.**

 **And one last thing. The thing with Silver kind of quoting the show with the line "I guess home isn't far after all". You might be wondering why I have her say that, well I'll be up front about it, team SMOK is basically my own version of team RWBY. So every once in a while, you'll see little parallels drawn here and there.**

 **But enough of this, I'll let you guys go now, as if you actually took the time to read this of course. So, until next chapter, later guys!**


	3. Foster fighter

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own RWBY, only the created characters in this chapter, all rights go to the late Monty Oum and RoosterTeath #SomebodyFromRoosterTeethForPresident2016!**

 **Hey what's up everybody?! Here's chapter 3 where we are being introduced to the third character (and very briefly the fourth character)! I apologize (or "apple-ogize" if you saw that Saturday Night Live skit a couple days ago, you know what I'm talking about if you did lol) because this chapter is much shorter than the first two, being only approximately 1,245 words. I honestly think this is the weakest of the first few chapters because it just seems rushed, which makes sense because I wanted to upload this chapter on Sunday, and well, it's obviously not Sunday, so I'm sorry that it's kinda late, and if it seems rushed and not as good as the first two chapters.**

 **Also, a friend from school is working on a cover image for this story, don't know when he'll get done and I get it, but eventually, there will be a cover image!**

 **And last but surely not least, I want to give a shout out to SniperHayden117 for giving this story its first favorite and follow, at least somebody cares! :D**

 **But with all that out of the way, enough wasting time, on with the story!**

* * *

In vale, and most other city's and kingdoms, there are foster homes, places where people who don't have family's to go, human and faunas alike. The biggest, and most occupied of the Vale foster homes would be "Highland's Foster House", where most of the occupants are just content to live their lives as they are now, with the people they're stuck with, while others decide they want to go into more interesting lifestyles outside of the foster home… like deciding to go to an academy that will teach you to kill monsters for example.

"Are you REALLY sure you want to do this?" Asked a concerned and overprotective voice.

A girl with moderate length burnt orange hair and sky blue eyes sighed in exasperation. "You are really freaking overprotective Kayla, you know that?"

Kayla, a human with medium length brunette hair and emerald green eyes, and she was wearing a plain blue short-sleeved shirt with tan cargo shorts and plain white sneakers.

Kayla closed her eyes and let out her own exasperated sigh. "Olivia, I have a right to be concerned."

Before she could go any further, the burnt orange haired girl, now identified as Olivia, cut her off. "What, do you think I'm not good enough to get into to Beacon after all, huh Kayla? Do you think I'm too weak, that I can't handle being alone their? That I'll get hurt too easily?" Olivia relentlessly questioned her older foster sister with a glare that could probably burn someone alive if they weren't used to it.

Olivia's apparel consisted of a plain battle vest with a metal chest and shoulder plates and black leggings and white leg pads that go from her knees down to her ankles and orange and black high top shoes.

Kayla sighed once again. "It's not that I don't think you can handle yourself, I know it's very much the opposite. What I'm worried about is… well, when you inevitably see a faunas. What are you gonna do? We both know you're whole problem with them."

Olivia stayed silent for a moment, trying to think of what she could say to relieve some of the concern from her foster sister. Eventually, she found the words. "Kayla… everything will be fine, I promise. I know you're worried and everything, but I'm not a child that'll just throw some temper tantrum at first sight of a faunas. Yeah, I still hate being around them a bit, but like you said, it's inevitable that I'll see one at some point."

Kayla's concern did not waver that much however. "But how do you know that for sure? You've told me several times that you'll be better around faunas, and yet you seem to always prove me and yourself wrong. Now please, don't think that I don't have any faith in you Olly, it's just me being my normal overprotective self, I do have confidence in you that you'll be able to get over your problems, but what I'm seriously concerned about is what if you're put on the same team as a faunas, because don't they put you on a team of four or something?"

"Yes they do, and to be completely honest, I'm not really sure what I would do if I were put on a team with a faunas, but I promise you Kay, I won't do anything at Beacon to make you worry about me or anything that's going on there, okay?"

Kayla still looked very uneasy, but she knew that she really did need to have confidence in Olivia. "Alright, if you are sure about this Olly, then you know I can't stop you from this. Just so long as you promise me that everything will be fine."

Olivia walked up to Kayla and hugged her gently, and whispered to her. "I promise Kay, don't worry."

Kayla returned the embrace whispered back to her. "I just don't want you to end up like your parents. If anything about the White Fang comes up and you are involved, I'm dragging you back here."

Olivia chuckled and broke the embrace. "It'll be okay, how many times do I need to promise this to you?"

Kayla chuckled as well. "An absurdly high amount of times I'm sure."

The two foster sisters laughed a little together before Olivia spoke up yet again. "I will promise you as many times as you want, just so long as it'll shut you up about all this."

"Don't worry Olly, you don't need to do that, I'll shut up about it now. Now, are you all packed?" Olivia nodded. "Good, the airship will be leaving pretty soon, so get all the rest of your stuff organized and get ready to head out to the ship yard."

* * *

Olivia waved goodbye to Kayla and a few other people from their foster house as the airship started to lift off. A few minutes later, as the ship was in the air and on its way to Beacon, Olivia stared out the window in bit of a sightless daze, thinking back to her conversation with Kayla last night, thinking about what could happen at Beacon, and mostly thinking about her parents, who were killed right in front of her as a child by White Fang members, which explains her hatred for Faunas.

' _Mother, father, I will avenge your deaths. I'll make sure of it.'_

She suddenly heard and saw a bunch of the other students on board the airship start to run towards the windows and look out, seeing that Beacon was now in sight. Olivia smiled slightly at the view, anxious about finally getting there. Her smile faded however when she saw the two figures next to her, looking out the windows next to her, one having long silver hair, and the other having jet black hair. But not only that, they had… cat ears on top of their heads as well.

'… _faunas.'_ She thought with dread and narrowed eyes.

She quickly caught herself and shook her head of the dark thoughts that were starting to cloud her thoughts. She couldn't afford to already get into trouble, that… well for lack of a better term, would just not be a good thing at all.

' _I promised Kayla that she won't need to worry about stuff like this, and I'm going to make damn sure that I keep it.'_

The airship soon landed and the students started to file out of the airship, and as Olivia was getting, she was ran into by someone from behind, making her briefly stagger forward before finally regaining her balance. Before she could turn around and question whoever ran into her, a voice behind her beat her to it.

"Oh geez I'm so sorry, I'm just in a bit of a hurry."

Olivia turned around and caught a glimpse of who it was. The person, a girl, had maroon red hair and hazel eyes. She was wearing a short sleeved denim jacket with a black undershirt, both of which showed her midriff, and she had dark tan cargo shorts with tan combat boots.

"Uh, it's alright, don't worry."

The girl smiled. "If you say so. By the way, the name's Marriott, nice to meet you."

"Olivia, likewise." Olivia responded, returning Marriott's smile with her own smaller one.

Marriott nodded and walked off past the burnt orange haired girl, her smile, and Olivia's as well, not fading. _'Maybe… maybe this won't be so bad after all.'_

* * *

 **Well and that's that. Again, I really "apple-ogize" for this being not as good of a chapter if you see it that way, I rushed it a bit because I was two days late on my own schedule, and I just wanted to get the damn thing uploaded!**

 **Next chapter will hopefully be better as we get into the fourth and final character, and then it goes back (to the past?) to Silver and Koel for initiation. And hopefully the chapter's after this one will be longer, I have a goal for this story to average at least 2000 words a chapter, so hopefully these next few chapter WILL be longer so I can have a bit of buffer there. And lastly I plan on uploading the next chapter by this weekend AT THE LATEST, and maybe I'll actually follow up on that, but we'll see.**

 **But, with all that out of the way, I've got nothing else to talk about, so, until next chapter, LATER GUYS!**


	4. Maroon might

**DISCLAIMER: I'm tired. Oh, and I don't own RWBY, what else did you expect?**

 **Hey what's up everybody!? It's freaking 12:30 on a school night when I'm uploading this! Isn't that just WONDERFUL!? #RipMe**

 **But seriously, I'm really sorry I'm late on updating again, but I had a ton of school work over the weekend. I was going to upload this chapter as soon as I got done with it today, which I actually did, but it would've been earlier had my laptop charger not randomly screw the hell up and make my computer die, because my laptop for some reason can NOT go literally 20 minutes without charging or it dies. It took me just about over an hour to get the god damn thing charging again, and well, HERE I AM NOW!**

 **By the way, two chapters in a row now that have names that have alliteration, yay!**

 **But enough of this, just read the freaking chapter already, and leave me alone for the rest of the night, I feel like I'm gonna die**

* * *

Vacuo is probably the most… neutral of all the four kingdoms when it comes to fighting and training. Or maybe consistent is the word, or any other synonym you could think of, Vacuo would be it probably. Vacuo has always been decent when it comes to training whoever is interested, and most of these trainees are usually good enough to go to an academy like Haven, but not a huge academy like Beacon.

It's either because they just aren't quite THAT good, or it's a personal choice, and they just want to stay home, or just don't want to go to a huge academy. But then there are others, not many, but there some that ARE good enough, and DO want to go to Beacon, and CAN get in.

… and then there are the very few that surpass all of those with flying colors, and then some.

"Marriott, I can't believe you're going to Beacon!" Came a young and very giddy voice from across the training field.

Marriott Stoute, a tall, long maroon haired girl, who has her hair in a long ponytail going down to her lower back, is probably the best fighter to ever come out of Vacuo, at least in recent memory, clearly more than cutout to enroll into Beacon, and that is exactly what she is doing, and lastly, today is the day she goes to the airship lot.

She chuckled at the voice. "How many times have you said that ever since I got the acceptance letter?"

Aside from her maroon colored hair, she has sky blue eyes, and wears a leather sleeveless cargo jacket that stops at her midriff, a maroon undershirt, leather cargo shorts, and leather combat boots. Yeah, she's definitely from Vacuo.

"Seriously Maize, you don't have to say it every ten seconds." She said to her little brother name Maize, the chuckle still clear in her voice.

Maize pouted a bit. "But it's so AMAZING that you got in, it's sooooooo coooooolllllll!"

Marriott knew that her ten year old brother wants to train to be a hunter and go to Beacon, so it wasn't exactly difficult to see the stars in his eyes as he said that, and she chuckled yet again.

Maize kept going on before Marriott could properly reply. "Can you PLEASE tell me what it's like when you get there? Please, please, PLEASE!?"

At this point, Marriott was fully laughing now at her brother's hyperactivity. "Hahahaha, alright Maize, I'll send you a letter once I get there, okay?"

Before Maize could respond, their father could came out of the backdoor, and started walking towards the two siblings on the training field, and he shouted out to them. "Hey Marriott, what are you still doing out here!? You gotta get finished packing so you can get to the airship lot!"

' _Oh yeah… I forgot to finish packing last night.'_ "I'm coming! Sorry dad, I was just getting in some last minute training in before I had to go."

* * *

Marriott might be one of the toughest people you'd ever meet, but she most definitely is not the most organized one, or someone to keep up with a schedule, a flaw by her own definition.

And this was proven when she basically had to cram anything else she needed in her suitcases without any orderliness whatsoever, but hey, at least she got it done and to the airship before it took off!

' _Whatever works I guess.'_ She thought with amusement.

Of course she wouldn't be stuck in Vacuo if she had missed the airship, because it would come right back to get anyone that did miss it, but seriously, Marriott didn't want to wait any longer. She wanted to get to Beacon the absolute freaking fastest she could so she could start her new life!

Marriott, as you you could probably tell by now, was a bit of a thrill seeker, after all, growing up in Vacuo, you had to go out and find a living, and that's what she's done, despite her young age.

While the ship was about halfway to Beacon, she started to reflect on her life thus far up to this point. She started to think about her family and how they'd be without her, her previous accomplishments in Vacuo, both publicly and personal, how Maize would be, the people she would meet at Beacon, and especially, who her teammates would be.

' _I really hope they are nice and not some self-centered assholes.'_

Despite being kind of an outgoing person, that's more of a "out of the house" meaning, not a "meeting a bunch of people" meaning.

Vacuo is a really vast land, and civilization is a bit spread out, so you had to go out and adventure around to go to new places, but not many really did, most chose to just settle where they were and stay there, not moving unless they absolutely needed to.

But Marriott had never been that type of person, she wasn't really a fan of that lifestyle, she found it boring and a waste of time, and even from an early age, she has had a thing for going on little adventures of sorts, and she tended to wander, much to the displeasure of her parents.

Yet, despite all these "adventures" she went on, she never really met many people, so her social skills weren't exactly the best, or at least as good as you would think, but the people she does know and are friends with would quickly say that she's a nice, caring, and compassionate person who puts their lives before hers.

However they would also tell warn you that she has a bit of a… short fuse so to say. She's not exactly someone you'd want to get on the bad side of. And at the very least, it added to her intimidation factor.

This led to her thinking of her own accomplishments in Vacuo, specifically fighting tournaments and how she won pretty much every single one she would enter.

Marriott was almost always the favorite heading into any tournament, and it was because of her fighting style, and how well she could combine her raw strength and brute force with her semblance, telekinesis.

Yes, to go along with having a freaking battle axe as your weapon, which it was for her, she could move things with her mind thanks to her semblance, and she uses this combination so well, that some people have wanted to ban her from certain tournaments because she was "too dangerous". But they never did ban her from any of these tournaments, because after a while, she was the main attraction, the main event, almost the WHOLE reason people went out to see these tournaments.

And she obviously loved this, she loved that fact that they were there to see HER, and she always wanted to put on a show for those lovely people.

But then this led to her next train of thought; her family.

While it was nice to put on a show for the audience, it was never the real reason she entered the tournaments. It was really because her family was pretty much flat broke.

The job economy in Vacuo had been sputtering a bit in recent years, and people had lost jobs fairly fast, her own parents included. Money was quickly becoming a struggle, and her mom insisted they should leave Vacuo and go to another one of the four kingdoms, but her father refused everytime, trying to assure her that they could still make a living in Vacuo, and be happy.

But her mom wasn't happy, and this only made her more disgruntled, and she eventually divorced, and left the family she had helped create, and this only drove the knife in a little deeper.

They didn't know where she had went, but they knew she wasn't in Vacuo anymore, that was for sure, and after the divorce, Marriott, who was fourteen at that point, decided to take matters into her own hands, and literally fought to get her family money. And considering she won almost every tournament she was in, it definitely worked a bit. At the very least, they weren't completely broke anymore.

But that was why she was concerned about her family now that she won't be there, how will they get money, and from where?

As she was thinking about all this, she noticed that the airship had finally landed, and her fellow future students were picking up their things, and filing off the ship.

As Marriott got her things, she remembered getting a message from one of her friends who was a second year at Beacon, and had told her to meet him near the front of the academy.

' _Well I'd better hurry then, don't want to keep him waiting.'_

As she got off however, she ran straight into the back of someone, making them and herself stumble a little bit before regaining there balance.

"Oh geez I'm so sorry, I'm just in a bit of a hurry." She apologized quickly.

The girl turned around to face her. "Uh, it's alright, don't worry.

Marriott smiled and decided this would be a good time to introduce herself and acquaint herself with someone. "If you say so. By the way, the name's Marriott, nice to meet you."

The girl returned Marriott's smile a bit before responding. "Olivia, likewise."

Marriott nodded and waved back at Olivia, and walked off towards the school, her smile not fading from her face.

' _That went better than I expected. Maybe this won't be so bad.'_

* * *

 **Well, I hope it was to your liking. This is the last of the character introduction chapters, so now, like I've said or the past three chapters now, the next chapter will focus on Silver, Koel, and the initiation, and then we can get to forming the team! YAAAAYYY *Party ball comes out of the ceiling***

 **But anyway, I want to go to bed now, so good night, and I'll see you guys next chapter! LATER GUYS! *Peace sign***


	5. Prove yourself

**Real quick before we get started, I want to give another shoutout to somebody, this time to Fennec9, they left an awesome message on my profile concerning this story, and I couldn't be any happier because of it! Now, on with the disclaimer and author's notes!**

* * *

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own RWBY in any way shape or form, unlike the epic headache I have right now**

 **A WILD EARLY CHAPTER APPEARED! Yes, what's up everybody, my hands hurt, and my mind has been turned to freaking mush today, but whatever, early chapter! TIME TO FUCKING PARTY, RIGHT!?**

 **Hahah whatever, anyway, since I uploaded the last chapter, I really freaking wanted to get this one written and published, and I did so in only 3 days at that! And not only that, but it's also by far the longest chapter thus far, so there's that too! Now concerning the chapter itself, I've said for the past 3 chapters that this particular one is going to be about the initiation, and for the most part it is, but I didn't get through all of the initiation, that will be saved for chapter 6, cause maybe I'll be able to see and think straight then.**

 **Also, a bit of a format change in this one. This chapter changes character perspectives a few times, so whenever there is a switch in perspective, there will be a long line of nothing but "SMOK" dividing the scenes. I'm just telling you guys this just in case you guys get a little confused on what it means.**

 **And I kid you not, I wrote around 3000 words today alone to get this done, and it's freaking past 10:30, on a school night, and I have 2 tests tomorrow. YOU BETTER FREAKING APPRECIATE ME D:**

 **But seriously, enough of me bitching like this, I really do appreciate you guys that are reading this, so please leave a review if you feel it necessary, and, without further ado (or whining from me for that matter) let's get on with the show!**

 **EDIT: I'M SO STUPID, I FORGOT TO MENTION THAT KOEL WAS ADOPTED BY SILVER'S FAMILY SO THEY'RE KINDA SISTERS! I'm really sorry guys, I completely forgot about mentioning this here, I felt like I was forgetting something, and I remembered it like 15 minutes after I uploaded the chapter and I was in the shower then, so I was like "AWW, SON OF A NUTCRACKER", so again, REALLY freaking sorry, I feel really stupid right now. Now, on with the story for real here! (MAYBE, UNLESS I WAS AN IDIOT AND FORGOT SOMETHING ELSE, WHICH IS PRETTY LIKELY KNOWING ME)**

* * *

Silver and Koel looked up at the "castle" of an academy in complete and utter awe. They knew Beacon was big, but this… this was almost ridiculous.

Koel was the first to address this. "This place is Massive! Is this really just an academy?"

Silver shrugged a bit, then replied, still staring up at the monstrosity looming over them. "Well whatever it really is, it's where we're going to be for the next few years." She smiled slightly at the last part.

They marveled at the sight in front of them for a few more seconds before Silver spoke again. "We better get going. Nothing's getting done if we're just staring open-mouthed. Come on Koel, let's get the hell in there!"

The two adoptive sisters giggled, looking so forward to what awaited them, and headed down the main path towards the front entrance.

"Students, please make your way to the auditorium for a quick announcement before you go to the ballroom." Informed a feminine voice over an intercom.

' _I was wondering where we were **(** ←_ **Alliteration nation!)** _supposed to go'_ Silver thought.

As the two faunas' walked on down the hall that would MAYBE eventually lead to the auditorium, they started to get progressively more anxious.

The hall luckily did lead them and the crowd of students around them to the auditorium, where there were already easily more than a hundred students already, the expansive room already filled with just as much noise.

Silver and Koel looked around the auditorium, trying to find an unoccupied area. As they were looking around, Silver caught a glimpse of Koel, and she was obviously a little nervous about being around all the people. "You okay Koel?"

Koel snapped her head quickly to look at Silver. "Uh, yeah. It just feels weird being around so many people. It's a little… intimidating I guess."

Silver chuckled. "Heh, well what else were you expecting, huh?"

Koel looked back at Silver with an unamused look in her eyes. "I wasn't really expecting anything different, it's just, it's one thing to expect it, but it's a completely different thing to actually see it."

Silver hummed her agreement, before finding a mostly secluded spot by a wall in a corner. "Let's go over there, we can be mostly alone." She said, pointing to the spot.

They went over to the spot, the only person near was a… burnt orange haired girl.

SMOKSMOKSMOKSMOKSMOKSMOKSMOKSMOK

Olivia was one of the first students into the auditorium, she didn't really want to waste any time, that wasn't who she was, she was very much of a no-nonsense person. She leaned against a wall near the back corner of the auditorium and either just played around on her scroll, or watched the students enter.

She was looking around on her scroll when she heard footsteps coming somewhat near her, at least towards the same corner. Without tilting her head, she flashed her eyes away from her scroll to look at the newcomers threw her bangs.

And once she saw who they were, her eyes instantly narrowed, and spite started to fill her mind again.

'… _faunas. The same ones from the airship.'_

As the two faunas settled in the corner just a few feet from her, the black haired one sitting down while the silver haired one leaned against the wall next to her, Olivia felt her thoughts going out of control.

She tried to focus back on what she was doing on her scroll, then she tried thinking about initiation, or just about her anything, but no matter what she thought about, her eyes and thoughts kept drifting over to the two faunas that were right next to her.

Without really realizing it, she was glaring at the two faunas, and she didn't realize it until she heard the black haired girl say something about her, and she decided to just get up and walk away before she could break. She knew that if she stayed any longer, something in her would snap. She knew it wasn't right, she knew it, but she just couldn't help it either, no matter the time, no matter who they were or where they came from, or what they do, she just couldn't stand being around faunas. So she proceeded to get up off the wall and walk over to the opposite side of the room, while at the same time, trying to clear her head of the malevolent thoughts.

' _Ugh, it's way to early for this.'_

SMOKSMOKSMOKSMOKSMOKSMOKSMOKSMOK

Silver and Koel went over to the corner, but tried to keep their distance from the orange haired girl, they didn't want to disturb her or anything, but they mainly just wanted to keep to themselves.

As they were talking with each other about whatever came to their minds, Silver noticed every once in a while, the girls' eyes would drift over and she would stare, or more like glower, for a few seconds before staring almost aimlessly at her scroll.

Silver tried to play this off, but she knew once Koel noticed it she would bring it up, and that's exactly what happened after a few minutes of this.

"S-Silver, that girl… she keeps staring at us." She tentatively whispered.

Before Silver could reply however, the girl, who had apparently heard Koel's whisper somehow, quickly bounced off the wall she was leaning on, and walked off to the other side of the room.

Silver and Koel watched her walk away for a couple seconds in silence until Silver spoke up. "Well okay… I guess she's not a fan of faunas."

Koel looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "What was your first clue, the way she was practically glaring at us?"

Silver chuckled. "Cut the sarcasm Koel, it doesn't matter now."

At that, they tried to forget about it, and restarted their random conversations for a little while longer, until heard the entire quiet down, and saw two people, the same two people from the whole situation just the last night.

They saw Ozpin walk up to the microphone in the middle of the stage, and cleared his throat. "I'll keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge-to hone your craft and acquire new skills-and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But when I look amongst you, all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose and direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only take you so far. It is up to you to take the first step." And with that, Ozpin walked off without another word. Silver and Koel looked around at other students, with looks of determination, pride, or just stupid grins.

Glynda then walked up to the microphone after Ozpin was done, and spoke her part into it. "You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Your initiation begins tomorrow morning… be ready. You are dismissed."

The two faunas "sisters" stood there, watching and listening as chatter started up again between students, and they started to walk off towards the ballroom, while they took their time to process what they had just been informed of. "He seemed a little… weird… I guess." Koel eventually said.

"Well, Alex did say that he was a weird guy, so I guess it fits." Silver responded.

Koel nodded, and with that, they walked off with the crowd going to the ballroom.

( **A/N I know what you guys are thinking about the whole thing with Ozpin and Glynda'** **s** **announcements, "oh that was SO unoriginal, what the hell!?" Well, just like Glynda's message on the airship, would you really expect these types of announcements** **as** **anything but automatic and repeated every year, I mean come on, this is Ozpin and Glynda we're talking about)**

SMOKSMOKSMOKSMOKSMOKSMOKSMOKSMOK

Marriott felt like she was dreaming, that was the only way to describe how she was feeling right now. Just being in front of Beacon and seeing how utterly huge this freaking academy is was just amazing! Not to mention the sheer amount of people were around, she couldn't wait to make some new friends!

"Heh, you havin' fun already huh?" A male voice accompanied with a chuckle came from her right.

That voice belonging to her friend Cobi, who was a second year already at Beacon. **(Honestly, I'm kinda tired of explaining what characters look like, so let your minds run wild on what this guy looks like!** **I mean, he's not going t** **o** **be seen to much, so whatever)**

Marriott looked over at him with excited and hyper eyes. "Ohmygod YES! This place look so great! I mean, look at it, this place is humongous!"

Cobi continued his chuckling up to his response. "Well yeah, this place is pretty cool, after all, I have been here for an entire year."

"I know Cobi. So I must ask, what's life like here?" Marriott asked with genuine curiosity.

Cobi thought about the question for a few seconds before he answered. "It's… definitely not boring. But it really depends on who our teammates will be, if you like them it makes life here so much easier and better."

This made Marriott even more excited and anxious about getting on her own team. "Oooooo I can't WAIT for it!"

"Heheh yeah, they can definitely make life interesting to say the least. Just be careful with who you get paired with, you don't know what they've been through of course, believe me, I'm speaking from experience." Cobi warned.

Marriott nodded her head, she understood that some people hadn't had easy lives, and she was sure that's why at least some people came to Beacon, to overcome their past.

Marriott didn't feel like she was one of those people, but she did know she had to be careful with what she says and does, the last thing she wants is to offend someone that hadn't had a life like hers. It's not like her life was particularly easy, but she knew there were people around her that had lives that would make hers look like a luxury, and she didn't really want someone on her team that would have had that kind of life, but if she did, she wanted to make sure that their lives at Beacon would be great.

SMOKSMOKSMOKSMOKSMOKSMOKSMOKSMOK

The students had gone to the ballroom and were getting set for what awaited them in the morning. Silver and Koel once again stationed themselves in a corner of the room, making sure this time that the orange haired girl wasn't near. They had changed into their pajamas by this point, and since they were both made by Alexandrite, they had the same style, which wasn't really anything special. Silver had a navy blue tank top with her emblem in the middle: a lightning bolt that's silver and fades to black halfway down, and plain black pajama pants, and Koel's wasn't really different, except her tank top was gray and her emblem, which was a purple rain drop with a gold halo circling it.

As they were unrolling their sleeping bags, they heard all the students behind them gossiping and talking amongst themselves, some of them planning on how they will be able to find each other during initiation.

Silver knew that it was only a matter of time before one of them would bring this up, and sure enough, and unsurprisingly so, Koel eventually did. "So… should we make some sort of plan so we can find each other? I mean, we always fight so much better when we're together and everything..." She trailed off.

She brought up a valid point, they've always been so much better together than alone or with someone else, but Silver knew what the main reason behind this was. "That's true Koel, but I know that you also just don't want to be on a team completely without me."

Koel's response came with just a twinge of annoyance. "Well, can you blame me? You know who I am. And I know you don't want that either."

Silver sighed. She was correct, after all, they had grown so dependent on each other that it was almost scary to think about not being on a team together.

"Yeah, that's true. Don't worry Koel, we'll be fine. I'm not really sure how we can really make some plan to make sure we're with each other, but I'm sure we'll find a way."

With that, they didn't waste anymore time, and as the room grew quieter with more and more students going to sleep, Silver and Koel decided to join in.

"Silver… Silver, wake up, we'll have to go soon."

Silver's eyes slowly drifted open, the new found light in the room blinding her vision momentarily. She blinked a few times to adjust her eyes to the sudden brightness, and as they did eventually, her eyes crimson eyes locked with Koel's misty gray ones, which were looking straight down at her.

Silver started to slowly rise from the floor of the ballroom, and rubbed her eyes to get the morning gunk out of them. "Ugh, alright. Where do we go?" She asked in a groggy, sleepy voice.

Koel smiled at it, she found it cute when Silver spoke like that, it always so unlike her. "I think we're just supposed to go to the cafeteria. That's where I see most of the students already awake going."

They then put away their stuff, and went to the cafeteria and got their breakfast.

"Hey Silver, they got cinnamon sticks over here." Koel called out to Silver.

"I'll be right there." Was Silver's quick and immediate response, making Koel giggle.

They spent their entire breakfast talking about random stuff just like they had done last night, until the voice of Glynda Goodwitch came through on the intercom.

"Students, initiation is starting in approximately thirty minutes, please gather your stuff and make whatever last second preparations you need to make, then go to the cliff side overlooking the Emerald Forest."

As the intercom shut off there were some "ooh's" and "ahh's" from students, some cheers, and then some nervous looks exchanged between some other students. Silver and Koel were in that last group, while obviously excited, they had a just as obvious look of edginess in their eyes.

Silver broke the silence between them after listening to the other students' reactions. "Heh, well… I guess this is the moment of truth then."

"Yeah… I guess it is." Koel said back, her nervousness starting to get the better of her voice now.

Silver got up from her seat. "Well, let's get to the locker room so we can change and get ready quick. I don't know about you Koel, but I want to get to the cliff side as fast as I can."

Koel nodded her head, then got up herself, and they both started towards the locker room.

After a few minutes of getting to the locker room, getting dressed, and getting their weapons and such set up, they were just about to head out to the cliff.

However, before they could, they, meaning Silver, still had something to do. She was standing in front of her locker in her regular outfit, (what she wore in the 1st chapter) making some last second adjustments to her wrist blades.

' _These things are way to loose right now.'_ She thought, scowling at the azure colored bracelets while trying to tighten them. How was she supposed to fight with them if they would just fly off as soon as she would swing her arms?

After a few more seconds, she finally got the damn things to an acceptable tightness.

"Alright Koel, I'm ready now, sorry for the wait." Silver reported.

Koel, who was leaning against her locker, which was right next to Silver's, had been watching Silver work, and chuckling when she would curse under her breath, and then when she would shoot a smoldering glare her way afterwards.

She pushed herself off the locker with her foot and responded. "It's okay, let's just get goi-OOF!"

Silver whipped her head around to see Koel suddenly on her behind in front of her, with another figure standing above her.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention." Came a genuinely worried feminine voice from said figure.

The voice belonged to a tall maroon haired girl with hazel eyes, and she currently was looking down at the person she had just practically bowled over with an apologetic expression.

' _If it wasn't for that look, she would be really freaking intimidating.'_ Silver thought while she was looking over the girl.

Once Koel recovered from the sudden impact from the bigger girl, she shook her head to get the cobwebs out, and then tried reassuring the girl. "Uh, don't worry about it, it's okay."

"Well here, let me help you up." And before Koel could accept or decline the offer, the girl leaned down and took her by the wrists and pulled her up, perhaps a bit to quickly, and Koel let out a small "EEP" as she was pulled up.

Koel then took a few more seconds to recover from the sudden lightheaded feeling that took her over, then looked up at the girl who was about 3-4 inches taller than her once she did. "Oh, uh, thank you, I-I guess." She thanked with a faint blush.

"No problem, if I'm going to run someone over, which I've been doing a lot lately it seems, I might as well help them back up." The girl said with a smile.

Silver looked the girl questioningly. "Who are you? Are you a new student too?"

The redhead looked at her with her hazel eyes. "Oh yeah, I am. I'm Marriott, Marriott Stoute, I'm from Vacuo. What about you two?' She asked with a kind voice and warm smile.

' _She reminds me of my mom when she talks like that.'_ Silver thought.

"My name is Silver Porcello, and this is my sister Koel. We're from Patch." Silver answered.

"Well it's nice to meet you, and good luck in initiation." Marriott said as she walked past the two faunas', her smile not fading from her face.

"Good luck to you too." Silver called out as she walked away, then turned back to Koel. "Well, she seemed nice, at least she didn't epically glower at us like that one girl last night."

Koel nodded. "Yeah she was nice, but she also doesn't look like somebody I'd like to get into a fight with. She was kinda… intimidating."

Silver chuckled. "Yeah, she was, so hopefully we will never have to fight her. But I wouldn't mind if she would be on a team with us."

Koel nodded again, and without another word, they followed Marriott's way out of the locker room, and went on their way to the cliff.

A few minutes later, the students were at the cliff side, standing on these weird panel like platforms, before Ozpin and Goodwitch, and they had a perfect view of the Emerald Forest that was a few hundred feet below them.

Silver and Koel were standing at the very end of the platforms, and they could see Marriott wasn't to far from them, but at the same time, they could see… THAT girl too. In fact, she was actually CLOSER to them than Marriott was. Perfect…

As they were thinking about this, Ozpin, who was holding a mug of coffee in one hand, and can in the other, started his little speech for them. "For years you have trained to become warriors, and today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

 **(A/N What did I say earlier about automatic speeches when it came to Ozpin and Glynda?)**

He stopped as Glynda took over. "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams," She said this while glancing over at Silver and Koel real quick, she probably knew that Alexandrite had told them about it at some point. She then continued on after a short pause.

"Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion, each of you will be given teammates… today."

' _Yup, that's what I thought.'_ Silver thought with a slight hint of nervousness, but then she glanced quickly over to Koel and noticed that she was not doing any better at all with just one look at her. She put a comforting hand on her shoulder, causing her to jump slightly.

Ozpin and Goodwitch let the students soak in this information before Ozpin took control again. "These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well with." At those words Silver and Koel took quick glances at each other, hoping that they could find a way to do so. But then, Ozpin spoke again.

"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years." And once he said these words, Silver and Koel froze.

"Alex never metioned that." Silver murmured with wide eyes. Now it was pretty much completely up to luck if they could find each other and be partners, now they could only hope that they would land near each other, and that they wouldn't run into some one, and vice versa.

And they obviously weren't the only ones who didn't take it well, if the panicked whispers and expressions were any sign.

However, Ozpin payed this no mind, and continued on. "After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern **(air temple?)** end of the forest. You WILL meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you WILL die."

This only served to nerve rack the students even more. "You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation. But our instructors will NOT intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one, and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item, as well as you're standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any question?" He asked as he finally ended his speech.

… silence. "Good. Now, take your positions." Ozpin ordered after no questions were asked.

Just as ordered, each student took their own respective stances, **(** **Silver's is kinda like Yang's, except her hands are closer together, c** **overing** **her chest, while Koel's is similar to Ren's, but her hands are also closer together and** **covering** **her chest** **as well** **)** and they all got ready to go.

' _So I'm guessing these platforms are going to launch us down there… that's seems a little… extreme. Heh, but it's sounds like fun too!'_ Silver thought, anxiously awaiting her turn.

But before then, Ozpin spoke one more time. "Now, in case some of you don't know how you will be sent down there, those platforms you're standing are the answer: they will launch you down to the forest. Starting with… Ms. Koel Marceleine down here at the end."

Silver's and Koel's eyes widened a bit. Koel glanced over her shoulder to look at Silver, who gave a reassuring smile in return.

Koel swallowed the lump in her throat, turned her face back to the two instructors, and took a deep breath. _'Alright… let's do this.'_ She determinedly thought.

Ozpin looked at Koel. "Are you ready Ms. Marceleine?"

Koel took another deep breath and nodded her head. "Yes professor."

Ozpin nodded his head as well. "Very well. Good luck all of you."

And a few seconds later… Koel was launched from her platform, and on her way down to the forest below. And one after another, students were launched there way down.

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Koel thought she would be freaking the hell out as soon as she was in the air, but damn was she wrong! _'The forest looks amazing from up here! Now… how will I land?'_

It struck her there that Ozpin hadn't informed them on how they were supposed to land, so she just guessed they were gonna have to find a way to do so themselves.

So that's what she did. She pressed a button on the handle of her daggers, and just like that, they turned into two separate firearms, and she fired them rapidly to slow her decent, and once she was going slow enough, she transformed her firearms back into her daggers, and when she got really close to a tree, she dug the tip of one of her blades into it, and proceeded to spiral down the tree, and in the end, landing safely on the ground.

She then looked around and waited to see if other students would fly over her. And sure enough, she saw Silver fly over head, but, of course, as her luck would have it, she seemed to have landed a ways away from her spot.

Koel sighed. "Of course she lands all the freaking way over there." She said in an annoyed voice, and then dashed off towards Silver, not noticing the other figure that had landed in the same direction, but closer to her.

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Silver was launched a few seconds following Koel, and damn, it was amazing to fly through the air like this! She closed her eyes and basked in it, she had never felt so alive before!

She opened her eyes just in time to see Koel land, and noticed a problem right off the bat.

' _I'm gonna go waaaayyyy over her. We're practically gonna have to scavenger hunt ourselves to find each other and get together.'_

She then had to think quick about how she herself would land, and she ended up taking Koel's way.

She activated her wrist blades and quickly shot off a few rounds from the magazine of bullets that were directly under the blades to slow herself, and once she was slow enough, she aimed herself straight at a tree, landed on the side of it, and jumped over to another, and wall jumped her way down to the ground.

Once she was back on solid ground, she looked around to take in her surroundings. _'Trees, trees… and more trees. Great, this is gonna be just… great.'_

She heard more students landing around her, and decided she needed to get a serious move on if she was gonna find Koel before either of them had found someone else, or someone else had found them.

She started running down the path, trying to find a way that would take her to Koel.

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Koel had been running down her path for a few minutes, and she couldn't seem to find a good way to get to where she saw Silver land, and she started to panic a little. _'Oh gods, what if I can't find her in time? What if when I find her, she already has a partner? Ohhhh man this isn't good!'_

She stopped to try to figure out where she was. _'… don't tell me… I'm lost aren't I?'_

After this unsettling thought went through her head, she heard an even more unsettling sound from behind her. It almost sounded like… growling?

She slowly turned around and quickly brought her daggers up, ready for whatever came out of the bushes where the growling seemed to have been coming from.

She thought back to what Ozpin had said on the cliff side. _'He did say that we would see opposit_ _i_ _on. I guess this is what he meant.'_

The growling got closer and closer, and soon enough, a pair of small, beady red eyes came into view through the shadows of the trees, and that only meant one thing…

' _Grimm!?'_

And as soon as she made that connection, it jumped out of the bushes, and launched itself straight at her. She yelped as she dove out of the way, narrowly avoiding any contact with it.

Once she righted herself, she turned around to look at it. It was just a simple Beowolf, and strangely enough, only one at that.

This confused Koel, she though Beowolves were in packs, so if there was one, there would be others, right? So where were they, she couldn't even hear any others with her sensitive hearing.

The Beowolf hunched down, ready to launch at her again, and she got into her stance, ready to fight it off. But before it could even start after her…

"HYYYYAAAAAA!" Roared a powerful voice from behind the Beowolf, and a second later, before it and Koel could figure out what was happening, a large battle axe was embedded in its skull, and after a short cry of pain from the Beowolf, it started to dissipate.

And taking its place was a head of maroon colored hair and hazel eyes…

Looking straight into her own misty gray ones.

"Well, hello again! At least I didn't run you over this time huh?" Said Marriott, with that same smile from earlier on her face.

It took Koel a few moments to figure out what had just happened, and then she remembered what else Ozpin had said about how teams were formatted.

And then it hit her harder than a meteor falling from the sky. _'Ohhhh… I guess Silver won't be my partner after all.'_

She noticed the curious look from Marriott, and decided to finally respond. "Uh, y-yeah, I guess. So… I guess this makes us partners, huh?"

Marriott smiled again. "Yeah, I guess it does."

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After a few minutes of running and feeling like she was getting absolutely freaking nowhere, Silver started to get nervous. At this rate, there was no way in hell she would find Koel before either of them had a partner.

She continued on down the path when she heard some strange noises. She stopped and listened, trying to determine where they were coming from, which seemed to be on the other side of the trees on her left.

She ran through the bushes and trees, her wrist blades still activated, and once she got through, she saw what she assumed to be the "opposition" that Ozpin had spoken about, or one of them at least, which in this case, was a single Ursa Minor, and she thought it would be good practice for whatever else she might run into.

' _Well, might as well take this thing out.'_

So she aimed it her left blade and shot off a few bullets, hitting the Ursa Minor directly in the back, and as it roared in pain, she then ran towards it and, before she got to it, she threw her right hand out and concentrated her semblance, and in a couple seconds, her right wrist blade was covered in electricity. She then jumped at the Ursa and stabbed it threw it's neck, and then shot a few more bullets to make sure she finished it off quickly before it could find some way to retaliate, and finish it off she did.

As the Ursa was disappearing, she saw a figure standing about ten feet away, and after waiting for the black smoke from the Grimm to dissolve, she saw a pair of sky blue eyes staring wide eyed at her, a sword in hand.

And this caught Silver by surprise once she saw those eyes. "Whoa, I wasn't expecting someone else to be… here..."

She trailed off as she saw who it was. It was THAT girl, the one from last night with the orange hair, and she then realized something else…

They were staring directly into each others eyes.

And the girl noticed this too, and instantly scowled at her and spoke in a very irritated sounding voice. "You have GOT to be kidding me, right?"

' _Ohhhhh, this is not gonna be fun, will it?'_ Silver thought, a sudden feeling of dread filling up inside her.

* * *

 **NOTICE: IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN FUTURE CHAPTERS AND ARE ALSO MAYBE WANTING TO HELP WITH THIS ONE A LITTLE BIT, PLEASE READ UNTIL THE VERY END OF THESE AUTHOR'S NOTES!**

 **... I** **sincerely hope you guys liked it, and that my loss of sanity wasn't in vain. But really, if you did, please leave a review, or if you think anything else, please do so as well, especially if it's any kind of constructive criticism!**

 **Now talking about what's going on next chapter. Next chapter will have start off with Olivia's and Marriott's perspective of the start of the initiation, and then we'll get through the rest of the initiation, and then I think the making of the teams. That's what I have planned, and I hope I can get it out by at least this time next week, but considering I got this thing out during school days and nights, I should get chapter 6 out sometime during the weekend, or at least hopefully**

 **Also, the end of the next chapter will also have full descriptions of the 4 characters, so if you have any questions involving them, they WILL be answered next chapter.**

 **And the very last thing now, I want to get a second team into this story, kinda like my own version of Team JNPR, so if you guys have a team or know somebody who does and are interested in me including them in the story, send them to me please!**

 **But now I've gone through everything I wanted to go over, and I can finally freaking give my hand and head a rest. So, I hope you guys enjoyed, and I'll see you guys next chapter! Later guys!**


	6. Prove Yourself (Part II)

**DISCLAIMER: How many times do I need to tell you I don't freaking own RWBY!? D:**

 **Hey what's up everybody, I'm back with another early chapter, just as I had promised last time! But unlike how I promised last time when I said that we would get into the forming of the teams, *nervous chuckling* yeah, well, I didn't quite get that far, because I wanted to upload this before the end of the week, so I didn't quite get their, but, so it goes. I promise though that we will get to the actual team forming and beyond next chapter.**

 **Btw, did you guys see the intro to Volume 4 for RWBY! OHHHHHHHHHH it was AWESOME, I LOVE the new character designs! (Especially how Ren now has long ass hair XD)**

 **But anyway, back to the chapter. Now this chapter stats off with Olivia's and Marriott's perspective at the beginning of the initiation, and also a probably really crappy fight scene, but whatever, I REGRET NOTHING! Also, at the very end, I put in bios of all four characters, so if there was something you were curious about with them, hopefully they'll be answered.**

 **But I'm rambling at this point, so I'll get out of the way and let you guys enjoy (or not enjoy) the chapter!**

* * *

Everything felt so surreal to Olivia, the fact that she was standing before professor's Ozpin and Goodwitch in front of a cliff side that looked over the beauty that was the Emerald Forest, which she was about to be sent into for initiation. The only thing that worried her was the way they make the teams, which is pretty much up to the students, and considering she hasn't had any real interaction with anybody, other than that girl Marriott the morning before, she didn't really know what to expect from anybody.

The only thing she was really hoping for though when it came to that was that her partner would NOT be a faunas of course. She could deal with it if they were just a teammate, but not her partner. That could only end up in things getting constantly blown up, or so she thought at least.

Although, hearing how they were supposed to get down to the forest kinda scared her a little bit, as embarrassing as that was for her. She hadn't really admitted this to anybody, but she had always had a case of acrophobia ever since she was little, much to her chagrin.

She didn't know what it was about just being really high above the ground, but she just could never get over it, so the fact that they were to be launched through the air, high above the forest, that honestly scared her more than the possible threat of Grimm in the forest.

But she of course wasn't going to let that of all things get to her, after all, she was about to train to be a huntress-in-training at possibly the best school to do so, why would she let a small case of acrophobia get in the way of that?

After Ozpin had ordered them to assume their positions, he said that the first to go was someone named Koel Marceleine, and it turned out she was one of the faunas she saw from the morning before, and second to go after her was the other faunas she saw. _'_ _Well, I know who I'm going to try to avoid.'_

Three more students being launched later, it was Olivia's turn, and she had to try really hard to avoid to not show any sign of fear at this point, which she didn't really have a lot of time for, because she was sent on her way just a couple of seconds afterwards.

She closed her eyes as she was launched, and she opened them after just a few seconds, and as she did, she had to repress the urge to scream a little, which she successfully did, not easily, but did.

And then it struck her that Ozpin hadn't mentioned how they were expected to land, and she panicked for a quick second before she composed herself as best she could, and thought quickly on how she could land, and she remembered how she could use her semblance in this situation.

Before she could collide with the tree that was quickly approaching, she crossed her left arm over her chest, then thrust it forward and back across her chest, and she suddenly disappeared from sight.

And then she reappeared on one of the branches on the tree she was heading for moments later. _'It's fun having_ _teleportation as your semblance. It'll be even better when I can control it completely.'_

She then proceeded to jump from branch to branch and landed on the ground after a few seconds, and as she landed, she unsheathed her sword, which had a steel blade with an orange strip going down the middle, going from the grip to the very end at the tip, the grip was wrapped in a burnt orange leather, the same color as the strip on the blade, and her hair, and her emblem was, which was an orange portal with her sword in the middle, was engraved in the middle of the blade.

She looked around quickly to take in her surroundings, which obviously wasn't really anything special considering it was a forest, just trees, trees, and then maybe some more trees. She looked up into the sky and saw all the other students flying over head and around her.

She then thought about what exactly she wanted to do when it came to finding a partner. On one hand, she wanted to find a partner fast so she could have someone to rely on for the most part of being here, but on the other, she didn't want to waste any time, and just get to the temple they had been informed of. In the end, she chose latter.

' _I'll just make my way to the temple, and see who I run into on the way there.'_

Needless to say, not only did this plan NOT take her THAT far, she also ended up running into someone she was trying to avoid.

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Marriott had been absolutely excited since she got to Beacon, and her morning had gone relatively well, save for the girl she basically ran over (which she still felt bad about), but now, here she was, surrounded by some of the best hunters-in-training, at arguably the best school in all the four kingdoms.

She took in everything that Ozpin and Glynda had said to them before they would be sent down to the forest, but what really caught her was at the end of their speech, when Ozpin said that they were not only going to be sent down to the forest, but LAUNCHED to the forest, and as he said that, Marriott's mind started going a million miles an hour.

' _We're going to be launched!? That sounds awesome!'_

She was pretty sure that if she said that out loud, she would get some people looking at her like she had grown a few heads out of nowhere, I mean, she thought that being freaking launched into a forest, possibly infested and filled to the brim with Grimm, sounded "awesome".

But after students started being launched, and hearing most of them actually cheering and shouting on their way down as they were sailing through the air, apparently she wasn't as weird as she thought. Or, they're all just crazy together, which also worked for her.

After Ozpin had told them to get into their positions, he then said the first to be launched was someone named Koel Marceleine, who she guessed was the girl she collided with in the locker room, and sure enough, it was, same hair, same outfit. And a few seconds later, the girl that was with Koel in the locker room was launched as well.

' _Her name was Silver right? Her sister?'_ She thought as she recalled her.

The only other one she recognized, a girl named Olivia she remembered, was launched a few people in front of her.

' _I guess I know who I'll be aiming to partner up with.'_ She thought after seeing the previous three launched before her.

And before long, the last one in front of her was launched, and she grinned, and was soon on her way into the air and towards the forest.

As she was soaring through the air, she saw that all the other students in front of her all making these fancy moves and tricks, either with their weapons or semblances, or both, as they were trying to land, and she assumed that she had to do the same, or at least fabricate her own way of landing somehow, which she did.

She reached into the pocket of her shorts and pulled out a small, rectangular tablet looking thing with a button in the middle, and after she pressed it, the tablet transformed into her battle axe, which was more like a halberd actually. The spear handle of the halberd was plain black and the actual axe part was maroon, just like her hair.

She turned it so that the axe was facing her, and as she pressed another button, it transformed again, this time into a kind of sniper rifle, and shot several times to slow herself down, and as she did so, she landed on the branch of a tree, and proceeded to simply jump from branch to branch down to the ground.

As she landed back on the ground, she turned her rifle back into its halberd form, and didn't waste any time in making her way down the path she had landed on.

' _Alright, let's go get a partner!'_

She started on her way down the dirt path somewhat aimlessly, half searching for any sign of a possible partner, or just for a way to the temple, the latter proving to be  
a bit more difficult to keep track of. Her sense of direction had never really been the best ever, and she never would argue with that.

But after a few minutes, she heard something like… growling… followed by a yelp of some kind?

She rushed further down the path to the source of it and found a Beowolf in the middle of it, and it looked like it was just about to advance on something, or someone.

Marriott decided to not waste any time in getting rid of the thing. She gripped her halberd tightly, and rushed straight for the Beowolf.

"HYYYYAAAAAA!" She let out a powerful battle cry, and before the Beowolf could truly know what was going on, or rather about to happen, she quickly thrust her axe down onto its head,

The Beowolf cried out in pain for a few seconds before it quieted down and started to dissolve.

What she found after it completely dissolved was exactly what she wanted to see, which was simply another person, and not only that, but a person she had already met.

This person was the black haired faunas that she ran into in the locker room, who was staring at her with big misty gray eyes, which also happened to be looking straight into her pair of hazel eyes.

"Well, hello again! At least I didn't run you over this time huh?" She asked with a small chuckle and smile.

It seemed to take the girl a few seconds to get over the surprise at her sudden appearance, but she eventually did reply.

"Uh, y-yeah, I guess. So… I guess this makes us partners, huh?"

Marriott smiled some more, and answered in a kind voice. "Yeah, I guess it does."

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Olivia had been wandering for about 10 minutes and she assumed that she was going the right way, she was typically pretty decent with sense of direction, but this forest was so big, it seemed like if you had absolutely no idea of what direction was what, you'd get lost in it pretty easily.

She came upon a clearing of sorts in the path she was following and she suddenly got a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. Something didn't feel… well, something just felt off to her. She quickly got into a ready position with her sword, just in case something really was off.

And it turns out, she was right, because shortly after she entered the clearing, a pair of red eyes came into view… and then another pair… and another.

She found three pairs of blood red eyes staring dangerously at her, and out of the shadows came three Beowolves, and they slowly crept towards her, snarling and growling all the way.

She lowered herself into a duelists stance, ready to fend off the Grimm.

One of the Beowolves then jumped and lurched at her, and she quickly side stepped out of the way of it, and after the first one, the other two followed its example, and jumped at her as well. She used her agility and quickness to not only avoid both of them, but as she was getting out of the way of them, she thrust her sword out and caught the side of one, making it growl a little. As they all came to a stop, one of the Beowolves ran up to her, and got on its hind legs, and started to swipe at her. She jumped back and out of the way of all its swipes, none of them coming really close to hitting her, and after she saw an opening in its swipes, she quickly dashed forward and avoided the Beowolves' claws and quickly plunged her sword up into its throat, giving no chance at survival.

As it began to dissolve, she saw another one of them running after her. She saw it hunch down, about to jump at her again, and as she saw this, she bent down slightly, and when it did jump, she rolled under it, and when she was under it she thrust her sword up, and slashed straight across the Beowolf's stomach, just about cutting it in half. She then sensed the last one coming up behind her, but before it could get to her, she threw her arm out in front of her like she had done landing earlier, and disappeared from its sight.

The Beowolf skidded to a stop and looked around confusedly, not noticing that Olivia had reappeared right behind it, and before it could realize this, she horizontally slashed at its back, just about cutting it in half as well just like the previous one.

As it withered away, she took a little time to catch her breath. But she didn't have a lot of time to do so, because shortly after she defeated the last Beowolf, she got the feeling that something was behind her, and she whipped herself around just in time to see an Ursa Minor approaching.

' _Ugh, are you serious right now?'_ She thought, annoyed.

She took a deep breath and got back into her stance as the Ursa advanced towards her. But before it could get within ten feet of her, she heard something from behind the Ursa, and then she heard what sounded like gunshots of some kind and the Ursa roar in pain after that, and just like that, practically as quick as it came, it went, killed by something completely hidden from Olivia's vision, but as the black smoke from the dying Ursa started to disappear into the air, it was revealed to Olivia what was behind it all, literally.

And it was not what Olivia was hoping for. This person that had just saved her the trouble of dealing with that Ursa, which she should be thankful for, was… a faunas. In fact, it was the same faunas from the yesterday morning, or one of the at least, but either way, no matter which one it was, she still wasn't what Olivia had been hoping to see.

"Whoa, I wasn't expecting someone else to be… here..." Spoke the voice from behind the still dissolving Ursa, said voice sounding surprised at first, then started to trail off, and Olivia could then see that she had started to recognize her.

And then something seemed to have stuck them at the same time, which was the fact that they were making eye contact right now, and that of course meant…

"You have GOT to be kidding me, right?"

' _There's no way, NO WAY, a faunas can be my partner, that will end up badly for everybody involved with us, I guarantee.'_

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Wide crimson eyes stared into narrowed blue eyes for what felt like an eternity until the orange haired girl closed hers and sighed.

"I can't believe I got stuck with you, but whatever, I guess we got no choice but to stay together now, there's no taking anything back here, so we might as well get used to each other as best we can. So let me start, or at least try; my name is Olivia Doncieux.

It took a few seconds for Silver to respond. "Um, my name is Silver Porcello." Silver introduced herself after averting her eyes down to the ground and with a slightly quiet voice.

Olivia then opened her eyes to look at Silver with a slight glare, and then spoke in a bit of a condescending tone. "Okay, now if we're going to be partners, let's get some stuff straight here; I don't do well with faunas, point blank, no questions asked. Me and them mix just about as well as oil and water, so it would be in your best interest to watch what you do, understood?"

This in turn made Silver flash her eyes back up at her with her own glare and speak in a questioning tone. "What do you mean by that exactly? You think I'm just goi-"

Olivia cut her off in an even more condescending way than before. "I SAID no questions asked, understood!?"

Silver was about to remark, but decided that it wasn't worth the trouble that she could already see brewing between the two of them. So she gave an exasperated sigh instead, and nodded. "Okay, yeah, whatever you say dear mistress of mine."

Olivia's glare persisted, and actually grew more intense after those words, but didn't say anything back, but instead gestured to Silver to follow her back into the forest, and started to walk back down the path, not bothering to look back to see if Silver was going to follow, not like she really had a choice at this point though.

Silver sighed again. _'Ugh, this is going to be a lot of fun, I can tell.'_ She thought sarcastically, fearing what might await her, now that she had a partner that didn't seem to thrilled about her already.

SMOKSMOKSMOKSMOKSMOKSMOKSMOK

Koel had mixed feelings about having the tall redhead as her partner, although she thought that it was better to have someone she had at least a little bit of interaction with, even if it was very little, instead of someone completely new to her.

Koel had never done well with being around new people, she didn't know what to say and do at all. She had also always been painfully shy, especially when she was alone, but that last part came mainly because she was usually with Silver practically all the time, so it was typically pretty difficult for her to communicate when she was on her lonesome.

"So, that girl that you were with in the locker room is your sister, yes?" Marriott asked, breaking Koel out of her internal musings.

"U-uh yeah, t-that's right." Koel stuttered out, internally cursing herself for her naturally shy nature.

Marriott didn't pay her stuttering any mind though, but instead pushed the subject a little further. "Not to be rude or anything, but it's kinda weird for two sisters to literally have completely different hair colors, right?"

"Um, well that's because I was actually adopted by her family when I was eight." Koel corrected.

This seemed to have caught Marriott by surprise pretty well. "Oh… well, I'm sorry if I might have brought up any tough memories you might have, that wasn't my intention, I was just curious." Marriott said in an apologetic voice.

Koel noticed this and tried to reassure her. "Oh, d-don't worry about it, you couldn't have had any way of knowing."

Marriott nodded, but didn't respond, afraid she might say something that actually might offend or sadden her new partner, needless to say, that wouldn't be a great thing to do on the first day of all times.

After a bit of silence, Koel decided to try to start a little interaction this time. "So you said you're from Vacuo right?" Marriott nodded her head but again didn't say anything, so Koel continued on. "We then I'm gonna guess that your life wasn't exactly… easy I assume."

Marriott sighed and closed her eyes as she tilted her head down towards the ground before confirming. "Yeah, Vacuo isn't really the best place to raise a family, so I have learned. My family had always been… well, not really poor, but not exactly rich either. My dad had a job when I was a kid, but then the job economy went a little… wacko, I guess. My dad got fired from his job despite the fact that he was arguably the best at what he did, and it really drove our lifestyle down the drain to say the least."

She opened her eyes to look at Koel to see her staring back with sympathy filled eyes, but she didn't say anything, so Marriott carried on as she looked back down the path they were following. "About a month after my dad lost his job, my mom started to insist that we should move somewhere else, anywhere that we could make money easier, because at this point both my mom and dad were just doing random fill in jobs around the kingdom, but none of them paid a lot really. But despite my mom constantly importuning him about it, he never gave in, instead he would always say something along the lines of "don't worry, we'll be perfectly fine", or "we're making money though, so why do we need to move now", or whatever, anything like that really. So after a while of this, my mom… well, she had just had enough of it, and she divorced my father. I was fourteen when that happened, and after that, that was when I decided to take matters into my own hands and make my own money, and I did so by doing one of the easiest things to make money off of; fighting, more specifically underground and promotional tournaments around Vacuo."

Koel didn't know what to say, but Marriott continued on before she could think of something. "And I made a decent amount of money too, typically more than my dad made actually, as sad as that is, but it was still hard to make it through." As Marriott finished her story, Koel noticed the downcast tone her voice had taken.

The faunas was speechless. While she knew the lifestyle in Vacuo had been… declining to say the least, she didn't think it was quite so bad to the point of having to literally fight for money and a living.

"Wow… um, I'm sorry, that sounds terrible."

Marriott shrugged. "Ah, don't worry about it. I mean, yeah, it was difficult, but sometimes I enjoyed fighting, in fact it's why I got both introduced to training to be a hunter or huntress, and wanting to do so, and sometimes I did it forgetting that in the end it was for money. I enjoyed fighting, as weird as that sounds, but the main reason I did enjoy it was because I loved proving people wrong, especially about my fighting skills. The people of Vacuo didn't exactly put equality first, at least gender wise, so it was always fun to prove them wrong of course." She giggled at the end.

Koel nodded, but didn't say anything, thinking she had already been told to much. But Marriott didn't seem like a bad person. Not only was Koel painfully shy around new people, but she also had some trust issues, especially around humans, but there was something about Marriott that told her that she could trust the taller girl, and this made her smile.

' _Maybe I don't need Silver around all the time to survive after all.'_

SMOKSMOKSMOKSMOKSMOKSMOKSMOK

This isn't how Silver was expecting her initiation to play out, mainly because she wasn't expecting to be paired up with somebody who apparently didn't have a thing for faunas. _'Why does it have to be me?'_

Of course, it wasn't like she wanted Koel to take this instead, Koel would probably faint if she would be with someone like this.

But, unfortunately for her, she also had a natural curiosity, and it was eating away at her to find out what exactly it was that made this girl hate faunas so damn much.

Ever since she encountered the orange haired faunas hater, they had been going a direction that they both assumed was north, or something like that, and they had been walking in complete and awkward silence, but before long, Silver couldn't resist her curiosity anymore, and she finally gave in to it.

"So… I feel like I need to ask, what exactly is it about faunas that doesn't mix well with you?"

Olivia stayed silent for a few moments, and for those moments, Silver thought she was actually ignoring her, but she eventually did respond, though not in the way Silver wanted.

"… what makes you think you can ask that?" She questioned with a glare that was already becoming to familiar for Silver's liking.

So Silver then went on the defensive. "Well, I mean that, I've of course met people who aren't exactly in favor of a faunas' well being, but I can already tell that you are a… special case of that, I guess."

Olivia sighed and closed her eyes as she spoke in a bit of a softer tone this time. "Listen, its just… not something for you to know, alright? I'm not really willing to explain it right now, I might later on, but just not right now."

Silver was disappointed to hear this, but she felt like it wasn't exactly the best thing to push, and she also felt that Olivia wasn't somebody she wanted to push for information that she didn't want to reveal. Plus, Silver also knew what it was like to have bad experiences and want to keep it from other people, at least until they were ready to give it away. So keeping all this in mind, she decided to resist her curiosity, respect Olivia's say in the matter, and drop the subject, but, of course, she still planned on getting the information from her in the future, not only to just satisfy her curious nature, but also to maybe help her new partner, and maybe she could also prove to Olivia that she could trust her.

' _I'm going to find out what happened to you, and when I do, I'm then going to find a way to help.'_

They then carried on down through the forest, in hopes of finding the temple, and they did so in complete silence yet again.

* * *

 **And that's that. I feel kinda bad that I didn't get to the end of the initiation, but I hope to god that next chapter, whenever it will be, hopefully not to far off, we will get to the end. But anyway, I'm going to leave you with these bios that I had promised, so let's get on with the information fest!**

* * *

 **Name: Silver Porcello**

 **Age: 16**

 **Race: Cat Faunas**

 **Personality: Silver is often cold and distant when you would first meet her because she had trust issues. She doesn't talk a lot at first and doesn't really open up , but give her time and she'll warm up to you and start to open up. She can also be a bit of a smart-aleck too.**

 **Weapon(s): Two wrist blades on each wrist; named 'Azurewrath'**

 **Semblance: Electricity**

 **Theme song(s) (Because every cool character for anything ever needs to have a theme song or two!): Warrior-Evans Blue, Breaking The Silence-Breaking Benjamin, Time That Remains-Three Days Grace**

 **Background: Silver was born on Patch, an island in the see west of Vale, and she had lived there her whole life before going to Beacon. When she was 7, her parents left one night without telling her where they were going, and when they returned, they had black haired cat faunas girl named Koel, who was about a year older than her with them, and they told her that they had adopted her. It was awkward at first between the two, but after a bit of getting used to each other, they soon grew really close together. When Silver was 8, her mom was killed on a mission, and then a few afterwards, when she was 11, her dad was killed on a mission as well. Her father dying was especially tough on her and Koel, because they didn't have anyone to take care of them because their older sister Alexandrite, who was 7 years older than Silver, was at Beacon at this point, but she came back to take care of them for about a month, and then she searched around for someone that could take care off them when she was back at Beacon, which she eventually did in the form of one of their parents' teammates when they were at Beacon. Silver then trained almost nonstop with Koel so they could follow in their parents' and sisters' footsteps.**

 **Name: Marriott Stoute**

 **Age: 17**

 **Race: Human**

 **Personality: Marriott is very kind, energetic, and overall easy to get along with as long as you can deal with and tolerate her. While she is very nice, she also has a bit of a short fuse. Piss her off, and she is liable to NOT let you get away with it in the end.**

 **Weapon(s): A black and maroon halberd combined with a sniper rifle; named 'Maroonmite'**

 **Semblance: Telekinesis**

 **Theme song(s): The Red-Chevelle, Wasting Time-Red**

 **Background: Has been explained like two times now in previous chapters :/**

 **Name: Olivia Doncieux**

 **Age: 17**

 **Race: Human**

 **Personality: Olivia is pretty difficult to get along with, she had a really tough childhood when her parents were killed by White Fang members. She's pretty much been drained of any innocence and emotions that she had when she was younger, and now she really just feels hatred for faunas. But that doesn't mean that she is a really a bad person inside, if she cares about someone, she will do whatever she can to defend you.**

 **Weapon(s): A standard sword combined with a rifle; named 'Orenjiburedo'**

 **Semblance: Teleportation**

 **Theme song(s): Alone Not Lonely-Evans Blue, I Will Not Bow-Breaking Benjamin**

 **Background: Olivia was born and grew up in Vale and had always wanted to become a huntress, and she grew up a nice, fun-loving kid, but that changed when she was 10, when her parents were killed right in front of her in a White Fang raid of her apartment complex, and she was never the same after that, as you would probably expect. She was found as a survivor of the raid, and she was placed in a foster home, but her personality had completely changed, and she just wasn't the same. Ever since that had happened, she had felt a very strong hatred for faunas, and she just couldn't be comfortable around them.**

 **Name: Koel Marceleine (or Porcello)**

 **Age: 17**

 **Race: Cat faunas**

 **Personality: Koel is painfully shy and introverted, if it weren't for Silver always being there for her, Koel would probably not really talk to anybody at all. Much like Silver, she has trust issues, but also like Silver, she opens up as long as she knows she can trust you.**

 **Weapon(s): Two daggers combined with firearms with a purple hue; called 'Evapmine'**

 **Semblance: Water**

 **Theme song(s): In The Shadow-Evans Blue, Break Me Down-Red, Ashes Of Eden-Breaking Benjamin**

 **Background: Koel was born on Patch, just like Silver, but she was abandoned by her parents when she was almost 8, but she doesn't know why they had abandoned her, and it's her secret mission in life to find them and then find out why, for she doesn't remember, because something happened to make her lose her memory of her childhood before she was abandoned, but the eventual scarring she has on her arms and legs (which explains why she always wears long sleeves and never wears shorts), gives her a grim idea of what her old parents did to her. After her parents left her, she was put in an adoption house, and was shortly adopted by Silver's family and given a new life, and since then, she and Silver had almost never separated from each other, and after her new parents were killed on their missions, she and Silver worked tirelessly to avenge them.**


	7. Beyond the stars

**DISCLAIMER: The first episode of Volume 4 for RWBY, which I don't own at all, was awesome!**

 **Midterms got me freaking dead inside, especially that Spanish one, ugh, but that's not the point! New chapter, and this one is the longest one I have written to this point, being over 7000 words... to bad it's not 9000, you know what I mean ;). Btw, the title of this chapter is a song reference to a band called Evans Blue, and they're a really good, but really obscure rock/metal band, if you enjoy music of that genre, you'll like them, and there will be plenty of references to their music in this story I assure you, because a lot of their songs fit the story and characters pretty well!**

 **I actually kind of have really mixed feeling about this one because there are a couple fight scenes, and I really don't think they were that good, but I will let you guys be the judge of that, because what do I know, I don't really think much of my work is that great anyway, and that's why I don't like to judge my own stuff. So without further ado, read on!**

* * *

Olivia and Silver had been walking in total silence since their last conversation, if you really want to call it that, and Silver's curiosity had not let up, she was dying to know what had happened to the girl to make her look at faunas the way she does.

But she also knew that Olivia wasn't going to give up whatever she was hiding, and Silver figured that she knew why, because if something really happened, it must have been pretty bad, and Silver understood that, after all, she herself is no stranger to that.

Silver could think of several things that might've happened, but she didn't want to speculate, she just wanted to know straight up, but until Olivia was willing to tell her, and despite her undying want to know, she wasn't going to push, because something told her that Olivia isn't exactly the type of person you'd want to push for anything.

"So… what about you?" Olivia's sudden question was enough to derail Silver's train of thought, and it also caught her slightly by surprise.

"… what makes you think you can ask that?" Silver asked back, seeming to copy what Olivia had said earlier when she had first asked about her past.

She saw the orange haired girl roll her blue eyes, then shoot her an unamused look, before speaking in an irritated voice. "Funny. I'm just wondering since you haven't spoken about your past at all."

Silver's face and voice dawned their own look and tone of cross at those words. "Well gee, that makes two of us then. You know, I wasn't completely copying you with that, I'm genuinely inquisitive on why I should tell you anything about myself when you said yourself that you weren't going to tell me anything."

It took Silver a moment to realize that her voice about halfway through that had gone a little hostile, rancorous, and even a bit accusatory, which wasn't what she wanted, and she hoped that Olivia wouldn't get to upset and lash out at her for all that she had just practically spit out at her.

However, to Silver's surprise, Olivia seemed to be seemingly unfazed to all that Silver had said, but instead she hummed a bit, almost making it seem she was almost agreeing with her.

"I guess you shouldn't really, that would be unfair to you, I was just wondering if you maybe were a little more open with your past than I am."

"So you really are aware of you clandestine way then, huh?"

"Of course I am, I keep it that way on purpose. I mean, there are some things people don't need to know about me, and I'm sure the same goes for you."

And she was correct in that way, there were some things that Silver didn't need, nor want to tell anybody, and things she had done in the past that she didn't want to reveal.

Before she could get lost in her thoughts again though, Olivia spoke once more. "You don't need to tell me anything just as I don't need to tell you anything if you choose, your decision, I won't beg you for any of it."

Silver thought about it, and while she didn't really want to say anything about her past, she also felt that if she didn't say anything, they would never get anywhere in terms of getting used to, and familiar with each other if nothing at all was said.

But before the silver haired girl could say anything, Olivia stopped suddenly in front of her, and Silver looked around to see what had made her come to a stop, and it was actually what they were sent to find; the temple.

' _What amazing timing.'_ Silver thought sarcastically.

The two girls remained stopped in the path to take in the sight of their supposed objective, which was a very broken down and dilapidated looking thing that they guessed was the temple they were looking for.

After a few seconds, Olivia spoke to get them back on track. "Well, I guess we're at the temple… or something like that. Let's get the relics and head back to the cliff side and get this over with."

As Olivia walked forward to the temple, Silver stayed behind a little bit, feeling disappointed that she couldn't get a bit more interaction with Olivia out of the way, but alas, so it goes. She then sighed and followed Olivia to retrieve the relics.

They walked up to the temple and found said relics on some pedestals, but some of the them had nothing on them, about half to be more specific.

"I'm guessing that we're not the first ones here, judging by some of the pedestals being empty." Silver said. "Although I find it weird that there aren't that many of them, I guess that means that only so many people could get them and complete initiation. Pfft, sucks to be them then."

Olivia only hummed and nodded in agreement, but did not say anything, and only walked up to one of the pedestals, and gave a questioning look.

"… gun shells?" She asked in a slightly confused way. **(Okay, I couldn't think of anything better for the relics, but at least it's different then the actual show, but it's also to bad that I suck at creativity.)**

Silver chuckled as she got up to one of the pedestals. "Well, at least it's different, I'll give them that, I guess. Let's just get them and get the hell out of here."

Olivia only nodded again, and picked up her own shell, while Silver did the same. They were about to turn back into the forest and go back to the cliff, but they were stopped by a voice shouting at them from the edge of the forest leading to the temple.

"Silver, wait!"

SMOKSMOKSMOKSMOKSMOKSMOKSMOK

Koel and Marriott had been walking in some direction Koel said was north, and Marriott didn't really have any reason to doubt because, as previously stated, she has terrible sense of direction.

Since they had found and partnered up with each other, Marriott had tried to create a bit of familiarity between them by asking random questions to Koel about herself and Silver, but she hadn't really said much otherwise, Koel didn't seem to be the most… social person around.

But something she had noticed about the raven haired faunas was that ever since she told her that she was adopted by Silver's family, every once in a while she would look off into the distance, a pensive look clear on her complexion.

And not only that, but the last time she did this, she looked especially troubled by whatever she thought of, if the grimace she gave afterwards was any indication.

Marriott was, by this point, extremely curious, and that still was probably still an understatement, and she desperately wanted to ask what it was that was troubling her, but she also didn't want to nose into any business that wasn't hers, but in the end, she couldn't hold that inquisitiveness back.

"May I ask what is troubling you so much?"

Koel jumped a little as Marriott's voice cut into her thoughts suddenly, and she looked back at Marriott with those wide gray eyes of hers.

"U-um, it's n-nothing, please, don't worry about it." She stuttered out in a not-so-convincing voice.

"Come on, you can tell me. I'm your new partner, I want you to know you can trust me."

Koel sighed. "It's not like I don't… trust you. It's just… I think it's something that is better off being explained by Silver."

Even though Marriott didn't doubt that, because it did seem like the two adoptive sisters had things to hide, Marriott knew there was more to this issue, and now that she has brought it up, and also gotten Koel to talk, she was going to find out what it was.

"That's not all that you're thinking about right? Come on, just tell me, I promise I won't judge you for it."

Koel looked really hesitant to say anything, like she really was scared of saying whatever it is that Marriott was asking for, and that's not at all what the tall redhead wants, she wants Koel to feel comfortable and safe when she needed to say something. How were they supposed to work with each other long-term if she wasn't comfortable with her at all?

Koel didn't respond at all for a whole minute, but Marriott was patient and let her collect her thoughts.

But finally, Koel spoke, albeit very quietly. "… it's about my family."

The faunas had said that so softly that Marriott had to strain to hear her, but she was still able to make out the words.

"What do you mean "your family", like, which one?"

"I mean the family I was born with, before I was adopted."

This confused Marriott a little. Why think about that now of all times? "What about them exactly?"

Koel's face almost immediately took an expression of something akin to pain. "It's… hard to explain for me." Her voice didn't fair much better than her expression.

This only served to make Marriott more curious, but she felt like if she would ask for anything more, she would be pushing it, hell, she was probably pushing it a long time ago.

"You don't have to tell me anything more, not if it brings up any bad memories or anything of the sort, we can just leave it at that." Marriott said quickly.

"Memories." Marriott heard Koel say in a distrait whisper before her tone picked up to speak once more.. "No, I can tell you, after all, you already told me about you and your life, it's only far that you know about mine… or rather, lack there of."

Marriott didn't miss the slight crack in Koel's voice at the end.

Koel closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then started to explain in a bit of a strained voice.

"I don't really remember anything from when I was really young. All I remember is this one day, when I was eight, I woke up in… like, an adoption house of some kind. I had no idea where I was, why I was there, and how I got there, all I did know was that I WAS there, I knew my name, my age and that I was a faunas, but beyond that, absolutely nothing."

Koel paused to take a slightly shuttering breath before she continued. "The people that worked there were nice enough to let me stay until someone, preferably my real parents, would come and take me with them, and they asked me questions about them, what they looked like, what their names were, where we were from, etc. But no matter how hard I tried, or how many times they would ask, I couldn't remember anything about them at all."

"I was confused and I didn't know what to do. I probably cried at least once every couple of days because I was so scared. And then about half a year after I woke up there, Silver's parents showed up and took me in, and the rest is history I guess."

Koel sighed heavily, and said the next part in a more distant tone. "At first, I was really wanting to find out about my real family, and why I couldn't remember them, but then I started noticing these scars I had on my arms and legs, but I didn't really pay them any mind until just a few years ago, and I started considering where I might have gotten them from, and from who. Now I'm not sure if I want to know anything about my past at all."

Koel sighed again, this one audibly shuttering, and she could feel the pinpricks in the corners of her eyes.

Marriott meanwhile was speechless, wide-eyed, and mouth slightly ajar in disbelief at what she had just heard from her new partner, and she was also bewildered as to how Koel might've lost her memory of when she was a little kid. But most of all, she felt incredibly terrible for her, now that she knew what she had gone though.

' _No wonder she's so quiet.'_ Marriott thought to herself, sympathizing for the poor girl in front of her.

The Vacuo native looked at Koel and noticed she seemed to practically be on the verge of breaking down, and at this sight, Marriott's big sister instincts kicked in. She quickened her pace so that she was walking directly next to Koel, and once she was, she wrapped her left arm around the faunas in what she was hoping to be a comforting embrace for the normally introverted girl.

The faunas heavily flinched at the sudden contact, and Marriott thought she was going to pull away from her, but after the flinching, she made no move to break away from the embrace. No, instead she shakily asked a mere question.

"W-what are you doing?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"… why are you doing it?" Koel asked flatly.

Marriott then spoke in the most caring tone she could. "Because I don't want you to be suffering over this, and I want to show you I can care about you, even if we hardly know each other. Is that okay?"

Koel was amazed that this girl, this HUMAN, someone her adoptive parents taught her to be careful around, was saying she wants to show her that she can care about her, even if they've only known each other for a very short amount of time.

"U-um, yeah, I-I guess." Koel assured with a heavy blush.

Marriott smiled warmly and let go of Koel. "Good, because that won't be the last time I'll do this."

Koel merely nodded, the blush still a bright red on her face, but a small smile starting to accompany it as they walked further down the path, now in renewed silence, but a comfortable one.

As they walked for a few more minutes, they started to worry that they weren't going the right way, but then Koel's sensitive hearing caught some noises from just up ahead, and as they got closer, Koel could make a voice, a feminine voice to be exact, and one that sounded very familiar to her at that.

They kept walking and they soon came upon the source of the voice, and immediately, Koel gave a face splitting smile.

"Silver, wait!"

SMOKSMOKSMOKSMOKSMOKSMOKSMOK

Silver and Olivia looked over to the source of the shout, and Silver smiled.

"Hey Koel!" She shouted back at her adoptive sister, as Koel started jogging over to them.

While Silver still had the smile on her face, Olivia's eyes predictably narrowed at the sight of the other faunas, and then something struck her.

' _Does this mean that the team I'm on is going to have TWO faunas?'_ She thought as a sudden feeling of uneasiness took her over.

Silver and Koel quickly hugged and started to catch up with each other on how their partners, and that led to Koel noticing Silver's partner, and her eyes slightly widened.

"U-um, Silver, isn't she the same girl… you know, from yesterday?" Koel asked nervously.

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, yes I am. Let's get this out of the way quickly, my name is Olivia, nice to meet you I guess." Olivia said in a quick but more-or-less emotionless voice.

Silver then rolled her eyes as Koel stuttered her greeting out. "I-I'm Koel."

Silver then looked behind her sister at the tall redhead. "I'm guessing you're Koel's partner? Your name is Marriott, right?"

Marriott smiled and nodded. "Yes I am. So is this the temple we were supposed to go to?"

"Yeah, we're supposed to get the relics that are on those pedestals." Silver answered

Koel and Marriott nodded as they went up to said pedestals and took their "relics".

"Gun shells? Seriously?" Marriott asked in the same tone Olivia used earlier, making Silver smirk and Olivia chuckle.

"Yeah, that was pretty much our reaction too." Silver said, her own chuckle coming to the surface.

"Well whatever, let's just get out of here, I want to get back to the-" Marriott said but then was cut off as growling sounded from the forest behind them, and as they looked behind them and found a sight they didn't want to see.

"T-that's lot of Grimm." Koel said.

Indeed, it was a lot, at least ten Beowolves, a few Ursa Minors. That didn't really get to them, but what did catch their eyes was what was in the back, towering above the rest of the Grimm: an Ursa Major.

"Oh how amazing this is." Silver said sarcastically, showing a rare case of intimidation, even if it was a small amount. "Alright everyone, get ready."

Olivia shot her a questioning look at the order. "What makes you think you're the leader here?"

Silver looked back at her with a soft glare. "First of all, I don't hear any of you taking that role," She looked back in front of her to the approaching Grimm. "Second, do you really think this is the best time to be asking questions?" And with that counter, she activated her wrist blades. "Now shut up, and get yourselves ready!"

Olivia opened her mouth to retort, but seeing the Grimm advancing towards them more, she sighed and stowed her rejoinder, and unsheathed her sword as Marriott activated her halberd, and Koel took out her daggers.

Marriott then walked up behind Silver. "So since you're taking the role of leader here, what's the plan?" She asked.

Silver looked back at her for a quick second. "Me and Olivia can take the Beowolves while you and Koel take the Ursa Minors, but whatever you do, do not go after the Major, we'll take that thing as a team. Once me and Olivia are done with the Beowolves, we'll help you two take out what you have left, or vice versa if you finish before we do. Got it?"

All three nodded, and they took their positions, Silver calling Olivia over to her so they could lead the Beolwolves away from Marriott and Koel, and after a few more seconds of waiting for the first move, a Beowolf jumped at them, and all hell broke loose.

Silver and Olivia successfully lured the Beowolves away from the other pair, while Marriott and Koel did the same with the Ursa's, but all of them made sure to steer themselves clear of the Major.

It didn't take long for Silver and Olivia to dispatch the Beowolves. To their mutual surprise, they found that their fighting styles mixed very well; Silver's was very strong and hard hitting, while Olivia's was more agility based, and they quickly found a rhythm in their attacks; Olivia distracts and tires out the Grimm, then Silver swoops in and delivers the finishing blows.

And once they got into this rhythm of attack, the Beolwoves stood virtually no chance in the end, and when they were over and done with, they turned their attention to the other pair.

Koel and Marriott worked very much like the other two, but their fighting styles were more diverse with each other. While Marriott fit the bill of being the powerhouse to a T, even more so than Silver, Koel was a lot more agile, and also a little faster than Olivia, so she could avoid, then strike fast, avoid, strike fast, rinse and repeat, and that made it perfect for her to weaken the Grimm to their breaking point, then have Marriott jump in and literally chop them down.

However, this also took them a little more time to complete, and since Ursa's are typically pretty sturdy in defense, so when Silver and Olivia were done with their part, there were still about two or three Ursa's when there were six to begin with.

But when Silver and Olivia got there, after running around the Major, trying to avoid it of course, the remaining Ursa's had no chance, not even knowing what had hit them when they were there.

When the Minor's were gone, Marriott laughed cheerily. "Damn, we make a great freaking team!" She exclaimed.

Silver chuckled. "Yeah, I guess we do." She then turned her attention over to the Major. "But this will be the true test of that."

Marriott smirked confidently. "And I'm willing to bet we'll pass this test."

"Is there a plan for this one Silver." Koel asked as they got ready to confront their biggest target yet.

Silver was silent for a couple seconds before she looked back at them with a smirk of her own. "Beat the shit out of it. Go at it with all you got."

Marriott then laughed wholeheartedly while Koel giggled, and Olivia rolled her eyes, trying to look annoyed, although her ensuing snicker betrayed her attempt.

They all turned back to the Major, ready to attack. "Alright, for real here. Koel, Olivia, you two go first and weaken it, hit it as much as you can, then me and Marriott will come in and finish it, got it?" Silver reported the real plan, and they nodded in conformation. "Alright, Koel, Olivia, go!"

As ordered, Koel and Olivia charged first, and as they did so, the Ursa stood up on its hind legs and reared itself back, and once it did that, they knew what it was going to do.

It briefly roared, then stomped strongly back into the ground, creating a shock wave that moved through the ground, and it moved straight for Koel and Olivia, but as it got to them, they quickly jumped out of the way of it, and they went at it from different sides, and it made the mistake of focusing only on Koel, completely disregarding the other.

It once again got up on its legs to stand upright and swipe at Koel with its claw, and as it did this, Koel jumped up and over it, swinging her daggers down on the back of its head, and as she landed on the other side of it, Olivia was directly behind it and she swung her sword at its back before it could turn around, but as Olivia was striking, the Ursa swung its arm out and struck her before she could block, knocking her down and slightly dazing her for a couple seconds, but she recovered quickly, and got back up, seeing Koel going back at the Ursa as she got up.

Koel quickly struck at the Ursa, her speed proving to be a little to much for it to defend against, and it desperately tried to throw her off by blindly swinging its arm, and it actually did make contact, a little harder than she had anticipated, and made her fly back a little, but before she could land, she pressed her palms into the ground and back flipped, and ultimately landed on a knee, and she then pressed the buttons on her daggers, and they transformed into their firearm forms, and she fired off a few shots to knock it back even further than she already had, and as she was firing, Olivia charged forward once again, and the Ursa, recovering from the shots fired from Koel, it tried to cuff her, but as it swung, she used her semblance and disappeared from its sight, then reappeared behind it, and struck rapidly at its back, making it stumble and fall forward.

And this is when Silver and Marriott saw their chance to finish it. "Alright Marriott, let's get it!"

Marriott flashed a smile that was probably the physical representation of confidence, and she nodded.

They rushed forward, Silver in front of Marriott, and just as the Ursa seemed to have recovered, Silver had already gotten to it, and she unleashed a flurry of powerful jabs with Azurewrath. Since she used wrist blades, she could fight like a brawler, but obviously much more dangerous, and this kind of style fit her perfectly, after all, she always enjoyed imposing her will in an old-fashioned fistfight, and she wasn't afraid to admit this, so she had plenty of practice.

After a series of powerful jabs, hooks, uppercuts, and maybe a few bullets thrown in there, she backed off and shouted out to Marriott. "Okay Marriott, finish it!"

Marriott, who had been holding back, letting Silver have her time, nodded determinedly, and broke for the Ursa, Maroonmite clutched tightly in her hand, and ready to do as ordered.

And it didn't take long, she hacked at it a few times, seemingly effortless, but she stopped for a quick second, then she let out a short cry as she let loose an extremely powerful side swing, and pretty much chopping the Ursa Major in half, finally letting it out of its misery.

Marriott waited to catch her breath, then burst out in joyful laughter again. "Oh gods, that was so amazing! We're gonna make the best team ever!"

"Well that has yet to be seen," Olivia said with the hints of a small smile. "But I'm sure we'll be tolerable at least."

Silver was the next to respond. "We'll find out soon enough, but for now, let's get back to the cliff."

Just as she was about to deactivate Azurewrath, Koel, who had been silent up to this point, spoke in an alert voice. "Silver… do you hear anything in the forest?"

This, needless to say, caught the attention of the other girls quite well, and confused Silver. "… should I? What do YOU hear?" She asked, starting to grow wary again.

Koel looked back into the forest. "It sounds… big, and like it's coming straight for us."

Silver narrowed her eyes, focused her cat ears, and listened closely, and sure enough, her sensitive hearing started to pick up what Koel was talking about. _'What the hell is that?'_

Olivia and Marriott watched in mutual confusion. "What are you talking about? What's coming for us?" Marriott asked, clearly muddled.

Just as she asked this, the ground around them shook, and a few rocks went flying past them, and they looked over at the source, which they found to be a giant, golden stinger in the ground, and as they followed the stinger up the tail it seemed to be attached to, their hearts skipped a few beats.

"A Deathstalker!?" Silver cried in surprise, a feeling of rare intimidation starting to fill her.

"I wasn't expecting that of all things." Olivia said in a more controlled way, but feeling no less intimidated inside.

"Calm down, we can take this thing, I mean, look at all that we just did." Marriott said, trying to reassure them.

Koel, who was the closest to the Deathstalker when it appeared, started backing away from it slowly. "What do we do this time Silver?"

Silver collected her thoughts for a moment before answering. "Same plan as before; Olivia and Koel distract and weaken it, me and Marriott finish it."

Olivia glanced over at her in uncertainty. "Will that really work for this thing though? An Ursa Major is one thing, but this isn't exactly an Ursa."

"Ugh, I realize this, but we gotta try. Don't worry, me and Marriott will jump in if things start going wrong." Silver responded, just about as composed as she could be.

Olivia still looked very ambivalent, but nodded, knowing she didn't really have any time to argue.

"Alright," Silver took a deep breath." Go!"

Koel and Olivia once again charged first, Koel in front, but both of them not without some sort of hesitation. As they were rushing, the Deathstalker swung its stinger after it dislodged it from the ground. Koel jumped out of the way of it while Olivia stopped just short of it while Koel ran ahead, and the Deathstalker to swipe at her with its claws. She avoided all of the swipes and got to its exoskeleton and slashed at it a few times with her daggers, but after a few of these slashes, she noticed something was really off.

' _Hold on… I'm not doing any kind of damage!'_ She realized, her eyes going wide.

Actually she had done a little bit, a few cuts here and there, but they weren't really hurting it, in fact, she was being more of an annoyance to it than a threat, so to get rid of this annoyance, it brought its stinger straight down, trying to impale her directly into the ground.

Koel jumped to the side to avoid it, and avoid it she did, but as she did, she saw its claw coming straight at her, but she saw this far too late, and it knocked her across the small clearing and into the base of a tree, back first, and not moving.

All three of the girls' eyes widened. Koel!" Silver yelled in urgency as she looked upon the fallen-for-now body of her older sister.

Olivia looked back at Silver with an exigent look in her eyes, and in her voice. "Silver, I swear, this isn't a good idea!" She shouted while slowly backing away from the just as slowly advancing Deathstalker.

Silver nodded quickly and shouted back. "I see this. C'mon Marriott!" She said as she gestured to Marriott to follow her.

Marriott nodded, and they ran up to Olivia's side. "Don't worry Olivia, we won't make you fight this thing alone." Silver reassured.

"Good, cause I wasn't going to fight it alone anyway, I would've let it follow me back to you." Olivia responded.

As the Deathstalker closed in on them, they got in their stances, ready to fend it off this time. "Fair enough I suppose. Ready?" Silver asked the other two around her as they nodded. "Then let's go!"

"That's gonna be your thing at Beacon when we're about to fight, won't it?" Marriott asked, providing a little bit of comic relief.

Silver for the most part ignored it though, and charged the giant Grimm, followed closely by the other two girls.

The Deathstalker once again tried to swing its stinger at them, and all of them either jumping out of they way, or if you're Silver, sliding directly under it, then it tried to bring its right claw right down on them, but again, they all avoided it.

They all tried attacking it all at once, Silver getting right up in its face and swinging Azurewrath at it, but she soon found what Koel's problem was, and she wasn't alone with said discovery.

"Guys, back off a little!" She commanded.

She jumped back from the Deathstalker, with Olivia and Marriott rapidly following.

"What the hell, we're not doing anything to it!" Marriott shouted as they dropped back from it.

"Yeah, all we're doing to it is giving it a bunch of miniscule cuts. What are we supposed to do to really damage it?" Olivia asked, then looking over to Silver. "Got any bright ideas, leader?"

Silver glanced at her briefly with a little annoyance in her eyes. "The only thing I can think of is just chip away at it until we find something about it that we can use to really get it."

Marriott looked at her in vagueness. "Are you sure? 'Cause if so, this is going to take a long damn time, and a lot of damage."

Silver looked at her with a raised eyebrow and responded. "Well, do either of you have a better idea? Because, believe me, I really would love to hear one." But no response came from the two addressed.

Silver sighed. "I guess not. Then come on, we gotta try here."

"That's what you said with your previous plan." Olivia said under her breath.

Silver didn't know if that was meant for her to hear, but whether it was or not, she still heard it, and she winced. "Just come on will ya?"

They rushed it again in hopes of actually doing something major to it, but hit after hit, slash after slash, hack after hack, and stab after stab, they just couldn't quite get through to it, and it was starting to quickly ware on them after a few minutes of this, and they were starting to get close to their limit.

They had just been knocked flat across into the middle of the clearing after being swiped by one of the Deathstalkers claws. They groaned as they sluggishly got up.

"Ugh, Silver seriously, something else needs to be done, we can't beat it like this." Olivia said, obvious fatigue and strain in her voice.

"I agree, we can't take much more of this." Marriott agreed, her breath a little labored.

Silver took a moment to catch her breath, before she looked back at the huge species of Grimm, her eyes narrowing as she tried her best to think of some sort of idea to take this damn thing out, but no matter what, she just couldn't come up with anything. Really, what were they supposed to do? This Deathstalker had taken everything they had on the nose, sometimes literally, and only has a few scratches as a result, so what the hell were they going to do to get to it?

She focused in on it, observing it for any possible sign of a weakness they could exploit. _'I would feel a lot better right now if Koel was awake.'_ She thought,

She briefly glanced at her fallen sister, then back at the Deathstalker, then suddenly, an idea came to her mind. _'Wait Koel's semblance is… that could work!'_

"… Silver, you still here?" Marriott asked, and Silver looked up a them from her current kneeling position, and she could see the concern in their eyes.

Silver nodded her head with a new found fire in her eyes. "I have an idea, but," She looked at the body of her sister, still at the base of the tree she collided with. "I sorta need Koel a little more conscious for it. I really hate to tell you this, but… I need you two to distract it, while I wake up Koel, alright?"

They then looked at her in clear skepticism. "But we haven't been able to do ANYTHING to it, so how are we gonna distract it right now when we can't even hurt it a little?" Marriott asked.

Silver shook her head. "I don't need you to hurt it, or even try to, I just need you to run around it and keep it away from me and Koel while I wake her up, please tell me you can at least do that for me?"

Olivia and Marriott looked at each other, their doubt still clear, but they sighed and nodded their heads, knowing they couldn't think of some idea.

Silver then got up from her knee. "Alright then, hopefully we won't be to long. Once I get Koel up, I'll tell you what you'll need to do, but until then, just run around it, got it?" She asked, and they nodded once more. "Good, then let's go!"

They then ran, Olivia and Marriott straight at the Deathstalker, while Silver went to Koel, and urgently shook and spoke to her, trying desperately to wake her up. "Koel, come on sis, wake up, we need you, please!"

After a few nervous moments, she felt Koel stir, and heard her groan, and lastly saw her eyes lazily open. "Ugh… Silver?" She drawled as she slowly sat up.

"Koel come on, we don't have a lot of time, I have an idea to take out the Deathstalker, but I need you for it, so come on!"

Koel shook her head to clear the fog, and looked around quickly. "We're still fighting it? Alright, what do you need me to do?"

"I need you to use your semblance with me." Silver answered with a wink.

Koel immediately knew what she meant, and nodded, a smirk coming to the surface of her face.

"Olivia, Marriott, come here, quickly!" She shouted out to the other two that were currently doing all they could to not get crushed.

And they didn't need to be told twice, and they a little more than quickly ran over to the two faunas'. "Okay, you got her up, so what's the next part of your great plan?" Marriott asked, panting heavily.

Silver's smirk matched Koel's as she answered. "Alright, Koel's semblance is water okay, so she's going to make a trail of water and I need one of you to stand at the end of, right in front of the Deathstalker, so it will try to stab you with its stinger and get stuck in the ground, then I'll handle the rest of it from there. Now… which one of you is going to do it?

Olivia raised her hand. "I'll do it… but if I get killed because of this, you will be cursed for the rest of your life Silver."

Silver nodded, seemingly unfazed by the mock threat. "Just don't move to late or slow and you'll be fine. Now, let's finish it for real this time!"

Koel then used her semblance, and made the trail of water leading to the Deathstalker, coming up just short of it however, and Olivia went to the end of it, her worry still very present. _'I hope my reactions are really good enough for this, at least they better be.'_

The Deathstalker slowly approached her, ready to finally get rid of one of these pesky girls at last, and as it got closer, it did exactly they wanted, and started to raise its stinger, and Olivia gulped nervously, while Silver smirked at its mistake, and started to tap into her own semblance, and Marriott and Koel could hear electricity crackle.

Of course, unlike Koel, Marriott didn't know what Silver's semblance was, so she was confused at first as to where the crackling was coming from, then when she took a glimpse over at her, she saw the electricity starting to build around Silver's right wrist blade, and her eyes widened slightly in amazement.

"Whoa, your semblance is electricity?" She asked, and the silver-haired faunas just smirked wider in response.

The Deathstalker, after it brought its stinger up to the highest freaking point it could, then thrust it down to Olivia, trying to impale her straight through her head, but just before it could get to her, Olivia leaped out of the way with a small yelp, and it hit the ground with such force, about half of its golden stinger got stuck in the ground.

' _This could not have worked any better.'_ Silver thought, and she then focused on as much of her semblance as she could, and after a couple of seconds, her right wrist blade was completely engulfed in electricity, and she brought it down as hard as she could into the trail of water, and as she did, the current of electricity she had created traveled through the water, and when got to the stinger, it traveled up the tail of the Deathstalker, and electrocuted it with an incredible amount of power, so much so that it had no chance of surviving, which Silver made sure of, and after a short cry, it collapsed, and started to finally disappear in a cloud of black smoke, at long last.

Olivia breathed a sigh of relief. "Ugh, good riddance, I thought this would never end."

Marriott, on the other hand, was much more ecstatic. "That… was… AWESOME! I can't believe you can do that!"

"That was a good plan Silver." Koel complimented to the younger faunas.

"Thanks," Silver said, panting heavily with her wrist blade still in the ground. "Anything to get rid of the damn thing." She then said after she dislodged Azurewrath from the ground. "Now, do we all still have the relics?"

They all took said relics from their pockets confirming this. "Good, I have no idea when we all put them in our pockets, but whatever, let's just go before anything else shows up, we can celebrate when we get back to Beacon."

With that, they walked off, feeling pretty good about themselves, while on the cliff side, Ozpin and Gylnda were watching, Ozpin having the cockiest smirk currently, and looked over at Glynda. "Well, do you still have your doubts?"

Glynda shrugged. "My doubts might be confirmed later this year, but I will say, for now, she definitely fits in, there, I said it."

Ozpin chuckled but didn't say anything back, but instead took a sip of his coffee.

It was the same night, and they were back in the auditorium for the announcement for the teams, and it was Silver's, Marriott's, Olivia's, and Koel's turn to come up on the stage, and Ozpin announced their team, with that huge freaking screen behind them.

"Silver Porcello, Marriott Stoute, Olivia Doncieux, and Koel Marceleine; you will make up Team SMOK **(Smoke… obviously)** , lead by Silver Porcello. Congratulations you four." He said with a smile, mostly directed at Silver.

Silver was standing there with her jaw dropped and eyes wide in utter amazement, incredulity, astonishment, and pretty much anything else that could be a synonym to disbelief.

Koel quietly squealed in excitement that her sister was going to be her team's leader, Marriott looked at Silver with a reassuring smile, while Olivia… barred no visual or verbal response, but since she was still quite uneasy with being on team that has TWO faunas' on it, having said team be lead by one of those faunas' did not help as you could imagine.

As they walked off the stage and back to their spot in the auditorium, Koel jumped over to Silver and enveloped her in a big hug. "Congrats Silver, you're going to be a great leader!"

Marriott nodded in agreement, her smile still on her face. "Yeah, and you deserve it."

"T-thanks." Silver responded shyly before she looked over to her partner, who hadn't said anything to this point.

Olivia caught her gaze, then sighed, and spoke in a near emotionless voice. "Just don't mess up, alright?"

Silver rolled her eyes. "Tch, we'll see how long that lasts, but I'll try my best."

As the night rolled on, they were still silently celebrating, or at least three of them. "We're going to be the best team ever!" Marriott said in enthusiasm.

Silver chuckled and closed her eyes. "Well, I don't know about that, but I will make sure that we certainly go beyond the stars."

* * *

 **Houston, we have lift off, the real story is finally underway! As you can imagine, the next few chapters are just going to be them getting used to life at Beacon, and used to each other, and there will be some parts that focus mainly on the relationship between Silver and Olivia, which let me tell you, I've got some fun plans for those types of chapters ;)! But I'll let you guys go for now, so I hope you enjoyed, please leave a review if you have something to say, and I'll see you guys next chapter!**


	8. Message to a friend-NOT A REAL CHAPTER

**Hey guys, as you might be able to tell from the title, this isn't an actual chapter, but instead a message to a friend at school, who is a having a really tough time of it right now to say the least, and I'm not going to name any names, and go into the specifics of what the problem is, because I am still not sure of the specifics myself, but that won't stop me from trying to help as much as I can, and I hope he knows this.**

 **I sincerely hope you're reading this, and if you are, I just want you to know that no matter how hard things get, you can always come to me, even if I'm not your first option, I know your girlfriend is, and rightly so, because she probably knows more about you and your problem than I do, and by far at that, but that also won't stop me from doing anything I can to help you.**

 **I want you to know that seeing you like the way you were today in class was extremely tough, seeing you tear up like you did, and hearing your voice crack like it did, and see you leave the room without further word was amazingly tough for me to see, and it made me feel incredibly bad for not knowing what to say and do to help you, but like I've already said twice, I won't let that keep me from helping, even if I can only help in the way of letting you vent all your anger, depression, anxiety, and tension and anything else you might feel right now, all I want right now is to see you be happy, because it's so hard to see someone like you, someone who always smiles and laughs so depressed and upset, it just doesn't seem right, and it's already eating away at me.**

 **That's all I want to say, I just wanted him to see this and know how much I want to help him, and I hope that, again, if you're reading this, and still are, you really will come to me if you need help with anything, I'll be here for you man, your girlfriend isn't the only person you can rely on for help in this situation, and I'll always be willing to prove that, I just need you to tell me what I can do for you, and how I can, and I'll do everything to help.**

 **That's everything, the next actual chapter will be uploaded tomorrow, or maybe even later today if I really have the time to finish it, and with that, I wish you luck bud, and I hope you feel better soon, and just remember, I'll always be here for you, and I'm not the only one, so don't hesitate to come to us for help. Wish you luck, and I'll see you guys later.**


	9. Tour around

**DISCLAIMER: I wonder what would happen if I don't say I don't own RWBY?**

 **Hey everybody, here is the actual chapter eight now, and a whole 2 days late, hurray me, I suck at consistency! Whatever, yes here it is, sorry if having the last "chapter" not an actual chapter was a little disappointing to those of you that actually care, but I had to get that out there, but anyway, that's the past now, here's the actual freaking thing!**

 **BTW guys, let me just say that in the time between chapters as I was writing this one, I got a bunch of ideas for future chapters, the main idea being how I'm gonna end this story, and with all these ideas in mind, I can't wait to progress this story, and I hope you guys are just as excited I am for these ideas to turn into real chapters.**

 **And now the last thing I want to say, I got a review from a guest, so I'm gonna go ahead and reply to him/her, they said it that the story seems a bit rushed, and let me just say, I have been waiting for someone to point this out, and I completely understand that it does indeed seem rushed, so I will do what I can to slow down at least a little, and again, thanks for the review!**

* * *

After the announcements of the teams were completed, they were given their dorm numbers, and they all made their ways to said rooms, ready to turn in for the night after a tough day, especially the newly formed team SMOK.

They approached their own dorm, all of them walking sluggishly, especially Koel who was obviously limping, after all she did take the biggest hit out of any of them during initiation.

Marriott groaned. "Ugh, finally, I feel like I'm about to melt. I can't wait to get the hell in bed."

They all gave their own groans of agreement as Silver unlocked the door with a setting she got on her scroll as a part of being at Beacon, and they stumbled into the room, and looked around the dorm that would be their shared home for the next four years.

"I can't wait to see what this will look like when we're through with it." Silver said with a chuckle.

After a chuckle from Marriott, a hum of agreement from Koel, and an eye roll from Olivia, they walked into the dorm and set down their suitcases.

Olivia instantly opened hers up, and dove in to dig out her pajamas. "I'm going to change, I'll be right back." She said as she went over to the bathroom.

Just as she said that, a message popped up on Silver's scroll. "Hold on before you do." She said to her partner, making her stop and give an annoyed sigh as she softly glared at her leader. "I got a message from Ozpin, he says we're going to have a team show us around tomorrow." She reported to her team.

"So basically we're going to have student guides to show us where the hell we go." Marriott paraphrased straight up.

Silver nodded. "Pretty much, but he doesn't say what team will be our guides, just that we need to be at the front of the school around ten tomorrow morning to meet them."

"Then we better get to bed, it's almost eleven already." Olivia suggested, finally walking into the bathroom.

"Why would he not say who our guides are?" Marriott asked as she looked through her own suitcase. "I mean, how are we supposed to know who to look for?"

Silver shrugged. "I figure they'll know who we are – well, I mean – what we look like. At least they better, or else that would make for a very awkward morning."

Marriott snickered. "Heheh, they'd be like those people you see at the shipyards with the signs that have people's names on them."

"My father was one of those people," Olivia suddenly said as she walked out of the bathroom in her black tank top and shorts. "Then he quit because he hated it."

"Why'd he do it then?"

"Because it payed well, and easily, but he had to sit around for hours sometimes, and other times the person he'd be there for wouldn't even show up."

"Damn, I'd probably fall asleep after the first five minutes." Marriott then made her way to the bathroom.

"That says a lot about what to expect from you in the classroom Marriott." Silver joked with a smirk, getting a small giggle out of Koel, and even prying a chuckle from Olivia.

Marriott stopped in the doorway, and turned around to shoot a mock glare at the faunus. "Haha, that was so hilarious, I forgot to freaking laugh." And with that heavy dose of sarcasm, she walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

The time between this and all them getting changed didn't offer anymore witty dialogue, and no one really spoke until they were all just about ready to go to sleep, and Silver reported one more thing to her team. "Alright, I'm setting the alarm on my scroll to eight thirty, that should give us a good amount of time to get ready and get to the front with maybe a few minutes to spare. Maybe then we could get there before our guides and that'll make things easier."

Koel nodded, Marriott hummed, and Olivia, who was already under the covers and pretty much half-asleep, just grunted, and with that, they all bid each other their goodnights, and turned out the lights.

Marriott and Olivia were pretty much out as soon as the lights were, but the faunus sisters were not falling asleep as easily, and after a few minutes, and making sure the other two were asleep, Koel whispered over to her little sister. "Hey Silver, are you still awake?"

"… yeah." Silver responded after a few moments, and she turned over to face Koel, both of them being able to see each other very well despite the darkness in the room because of their faunus eyes giving them enhanced vision. "Why, what do you need?"

She could see Koel begin to blush. "U-um, remember a bunch of years ago, we made that promise with each other that everytime we would be in a new place, we would… y'know…" She trailed off, hoping Silver would understand what she was referring to.

And apparently she did understand, because as she trailed off, Silver started to smile at her. "Yes, I remember Koel."

Koel nodded shyly, blush still very visible, and growing a little more. "Then, do you think we can…?"

The younger faunus didn't respond, but instead she slid over and out of her bed, and jumped into her adopted sister's, slid under the covers next to her. "Of course we can." She then wrapped her arms around Koel's stomach, and rested her head on her shoulder.

Koel returned her smile, and put her own arms around her little sisters neck and upper back. "Thanks. Goodnight Silver."

"Goodnight." She returned with a small giggle, and they fell asleep in just a couple short minutes, Silver using Koel's heartbeat to lull her to sleep.

The morning didn't come without a fair bit of confusion from Olivia, and teasing from Marriott when they found Silver climbing out off KOEL's bed, but after they explained to Olivia that they were sisters, which she hadn't been told previously, things made sense to her – well, kind of, but the teasing from Marriott didn't let up with that, nor did it all morning, not when they were changing, or walking down the halls, or even during breakfast, and when they were on their way to the front of the school

"Y'know, If I didn't know any better, I would've thought you two had something going on while we were asleep." Marriott ruthlessly, and rather annoyingly continued her teasing, this time with a bit of a perverted smirk and wink.

Koel had pretty much had a blush on her face all morning, but it increased tenfold at this, and it even made a faint blush come to Silver's face as she glared at Marriott with all her power. "Marriott… please, for the love of everything holy, please fucking stop." She said through gritted teeth, sounding, and looking as though she was about to place an imprecation on Marriott.

Marriott chuckled, and raised her arms over her head to show that she was done. "Okay, calm down, I'm done, really."

"Why were you two together like that though?" Olivia finally asked the question that had been on her mind all morning.

"It's something we promised each other a bunch of years ago, that everytime we would be in a place completely new to us, we would be as close to each other as possible." Silver answered, being as careful with her words as she could be so Marriott wouldn't start again.

Olivia's eyebrows furrowed as she turned her head to look questioningly as the faunus'. "Aren't you two a little old for that though?"

Silver just shrugged. "Probably, but we still do it, so whatever." She heard Marriott snicker at that, and she glowered at her again before continuing. "Even though we're at Beacon now, and we're on a team together and everything, being her sister comes first in my book."

"Well just remember that you're our leader, so you have more things to worry about than just being her sister." Olivia said as she looked away and out into the distance, her voice sounding impassive. Silver narrowed her eyes at her words and tone, but didn't respond, figuring it wasn't worth an argument at this time.

"Excuse us, are you team SMOK?" A voice behind them asked, and they turned around to face the source of the voice, which was a short brunette girl, who had three other girls behind her.

"Yes, we are." Silver confirmed, then taking a closer look at them, and noticed the familiarity of the four girls. "You're the team from the other night, aren't you?"

A look of realization flashed over all their faces. "Oh yeah, you're the girl that got her necklace stolen," Said the blonde, then pointing over to Koel. "And you're the one that literally jumped off a building to stop the guy."

Koel faintly blushed at the type of recognition, and she looked down to the ground. "Um, y-yeah, that was me."

The tall blonde chuckled a bit before the brunette spoke again. "Well, we won't get anywhere unless we introduce ourselves; my name is Ruby Rose, I'm the leader of team RWBY," she spoke pridefully, then gesturing to her right where a white-haired girl was, someone who was way to familiar to the two faunus'. "And this is my partner W-"

"Weiss Schnee," Silver cut her off in a slightly cold voice. "We know who she is." She said, referring to Koel.

The four in front of them held a look of mild shock. "U-um, yeah, h-how did you know?" Ruby asked through her shocked state.

"Every faunus alive knows a Schnee when they see one, it's practically commonsense." Silver answered in a matter-of-fact tone.

She saw the raven-haired girl in the back nod. "That's actually kinda true, faunus' are taught to recognize Schnee's, and if a faunus can't recognize them, it's almost like they don't know anything about the world, so I don't know why I was so surprised when she knew what your name is."

Weiss nodded. "Dually noted, I probably should've known."

"So you are a faunus, I was starting to question with the bow." Silver said, pointing to the black bow that rested on top of the raven-haired girls head. "You're just… in hiding I guess."

The faunus "in hiding" chuckled. "That's the nice way to put it I guess. My name is Blake Belladonna, it's nice to meet two other cat faunus'."

The blonde stepped forward. "And I'm Yang, Blake's partner, and Ruby's big sister, pleasure to meet ya."

Marriott, who had been silent this whole time, letting her leader handle things, finally spoke up, albeit in a slightly confused manner. "Hold on, you're sisters?" At their nod, she seemed to have become even more confused. "But… you look absolutely nothing alike."

Yang scoffed and looked down at her "sister", who was giggling as well. "Gee, if only we could get a dollar for every time someone said that, we could probably retire before we even start." She then looked back at the other four. "We're actually half-sisters, same dad, different moms."

Marriott's expression turned from confusion to understanding just like that. "Ooohhh, okay, now it makes sense."

Ruby stopped giggling, and looked at them quizzically. "Soooo, what about you guys, what are your names?"

Silver then realized they hadn't introduced themselves yet. "Oh, sorry, my name is Silver Porcello, I'm the leader of team SMOK, and this is my partner Olivia." She introduced herself and her partner finally, who just gave a nod their way.

Silver sighed at her partner's "response", then turned to the other two. "And this is my sister Koel, and her partner Marriott."

The redhead smiled. "Nice to meet you." She said brightly, while Koel just shyly waved and gave a meek "hello".

Weiss then stepped forward. "Well, it's nice to meet you all," She then looked at Silver and Koel. "Even if we might have some… indirect conflicts, but I hope we can see eye to eye in the long run."

Silver looked down and away from her as she sucked in a breath, trying to find the right words. "… just so long as you show us that you're not like your family, or at least your father. If you do that, we'll be fine, but since you you're on a team with a faunus, you can't be so bad." She said as she layed her crimson eyes on the third faunus on the last part.

Said third faunus nodded at the mention. "She proved to me early on that she isn't anything like her family, so I think you can rest easy on that front."

Silver and Koel simply nodded, then Ruby got them back on track. "Well, enough talking, let's get moving already!" She said in an ever cheery voice.

And with that, their tour around the cast-I mean academy began, and early on, Yang tried to strike conversation again. "You guys are so lucky you get a guide, last year we didn't get one, we just had to adventure our way around until we got to where we needed to go."

"We also were almost late to class on our first day too." Blake added.

Marriott chortled. "Why would they not give anyone a guide for this place? I mean, this place looks like you could get lost in it."

"We never actually did," Weiss responded. "But like Blake said, we were almost late to our first class, because our great leader here decided it was a good idea to decorate our room that morning, and NOT check the time."

"Hey, we needed to get the dorm set up, and one of you could've warned me!" Ruby retorted.

"You're our leader, YOU are supposed to keep up with everything we do!"

"So what, I'm the only one that can see the time on a clock?"

This rhetoric, and sarcastic question from Ruby caused chuckles, snickers, and giggles across the group of eight, even dragging some from Olivia and Silver as they made their way around the school, passing through the courtyards, and by various classrooms, and eventually the gym, to which the younger team took a few minutes to check out and get used too, and when they were leaving, Marriott had said something about "spending most my time in there", to which Yang said "most of us do".

By the time they were had gone through everything the new team needed to know, and everything they needed to see, it was just about time for lunch, and team RWBY thought it was fair to invite the new team to sit with them, to which they accepted.

As they were on their way to the cafeteria, Ruby turned to face the first-years. "Just so you know, our friends from team JNPR sit with us as well, so… yeah, you'll have another team to get to know."

"W-what are they like?" Koel asked, being the ever shy and socially uneasy faunus she is.

It was Yang that answered. "They're all really nice, one of them in a more awkward way, and the other…" She trailed off, looking like she was trying to find the right words. "… in a very… enthusiastic way, I guess is a way to put it."

Olivia furrowed her eyebrows in slight confusion. "What do you mean by "enthusiastic"?"

"She gets very excited when she meets new people." Blake simply answered as they reached the doors of the cafeteria.

"And this is good, right?" Silver asked.

"That depends on your tolerance level," Weiss responded. "Something that I don't have a lot of."

"Well, I guess Silver and Olivia will be exploding in a few minutes." Marriott said with a smirk and chuckle, with the second-years following along.

Silver and Olivia glared in the practically the same way. "Listen here, if I can tolerate you and your teasing, I'm pretty sure I can tolerate many things." Silver said with a slight edge in her voice.

"And if I can tolerate all of you, I'm not that far behind." Olivia then murmured, drawing some weird looks across the group, and a slight groan and eye roll from Silver.

A few minutes later, they were walking over to a table near the exit in the back of the cafeteria, and at the table already was another team consisting of a blonde boy casually talking to a redheaded girl who was his same height even while sitting next to him, and then a short orange haired girl practically talking the head off of a black haired boy with a random pink streak in said hair.

The blonde and redhead broke off of their conversation once they saw the other teams approaching, and both of them smiled. "Hey guys, how's it going?" The blonde asked as they sat down.

Ruby matched his smile. "We're doing good!" She said merrily, then directed their attention to the other four girls. "And we brought some new friends with us too!"

"We see that," The redhead said with a nod. "Are they a new team?"

This seemed to grab the attention of the orange haired girl, and lured her out of her epic, yet practically one-sided conversation with the other boy, and she snapped her head over to them. "Wait what, new team!?"

Ruby, seemingly unfazed by the sudden outburst, nodded. "Yep, and we got to be their guides too!"

"Awwww," The overly-excited girl groaned. "We didn't get any job like that, we just got to sit around so far and be boring."

"Well, it's nice to meet you all," The blonde boy said to the first-years. "My name is Jaune Arc, leader of team JNPR."

"What, not gonna go with your normal introduction Jaune?" Yang asked with a smirk.

"You know it never works, so I'm not even gonna try." He mumbled in response.

The redhead next to him sniggered, before she introduced herself. "And I'm Pyrrha Nikos, Jaune's partner, it's a pleasure to meet a new team, we hope you feel welcome."

The ginger opened her mouth to introduce herself, but before she could, the boy next to her clasped his hand over her mouth. "Let me Nora, we don't want you to over-excite them to death." Nora grumbled in response behind his hand, and the boy looked at them with a friendly smile. "My name Ren, and this is my partner Nora, we hope you enjoy your time here."

Silver smiled at them. _'Well, they seem nice enough at least.'_

After some more introducing and getting to know each other, Silver started to think she could really trust them, of course she didn't really have any ill suspicions about any of them, but the fact that they were all humans (with the exception of Blake of course), and one of them even being a Schnee, it was easy for her to be put on edge a little, she was taught by her parents to always be wary about being around so many humans at one time, and sometimes she took that a bit to seriously, but sometimes she knew she kept that too close to her heart sometimes, and judged some people far too early, and far too unfairly, a personal flaw that she was tired of herself for having, but maybe getting to know these two teams, Marriott, and MAYBE Olivia, would get her out of that habit, something she was desperate to let go of.

Koel felt pretty much the same way, after all, she and Silver were taught the same thing, but while Silver could grow a little impulsive, and even a little hostile around people she wasn't sure about trusting, Koel would just straight up shy away, fade into the background, and really try her best to keep from making any type of noise. It's not that she didn't like meeting new people, it was just… she didn't know how to handle being around new people, and she was always paranoid about people taking advantage of her naturally shy state of mind, something she absolutely hated herself for, she hated that she was so painfully timid, about… everything, but she couldn't help it, and it had only been Silver and Alexandrite that could break her out of that shell, but only every once in a while, but maybe, being around so many people at one time might break her out of it, or so she could hope at least.

Marriott was overjoyed to make some new friends already, and that's not including her teammates who she'll be forced to be friends with, but some other teams to get along with and rely on, and on their first full day at Beacon too! It's already been established that her social skills weren't the best, but she didn't consider herself as someone hard to get along too, and the last thing she wanted to do was let her lack of social skills drive someone away, but it felt weird that she was around so many people at one time, when most of the time back in Vacuo the most people she was around was her family, which was a whopping two people for the past few years, but it felt… nice to be around eleven at the same time, maybe a little awkward, but nice.

Olivia felt… weird to say the least. Not only was she around THREE faunus' now, she was also with eight other people on top of that, including a Schnee of all people. But despite this, her thoughts kept drawing back to the faunus' that were her teammates, specifically the one that was her partner and leader, and it was starting to annoy her that she could never get this off her mind, no matter how hard she tried. Even though she lived in a foster home for the past 7 years until now, she never came in contact with another faunus, for the foster home she lived in was divided, and segregated, so one half of the house would belong to humans, and the other half would be the faunus', and Olivia did her best to stay away from the latter, and as much as she wanted to keep it this way, she had to be around them, so she might as well try to make the best and most of it. But if there was one thing she had in common with the faunus', it was that trust was not easy to come by for her, faunus or human alike, and she often wanted to just stay in recesses of her own mind. But who knows, maybe these other teams will help her out of that little fortress she has built around herself, in more ways then one.

After a while, lunch was over, and team's RWBY and JNPR let them go, saying that they should just spend the rest of the day together, and getting to know each other better, and if they had any questions to come to them.

After they had gotten back their dorm, they didn't do much in the way of talking to each other, but they did get started on getting all their stuff out of their suitcases, and as they were setting up their dorm, Silver got a message on her scroll, once again from Ozpin.

"Professor Ozpin says that classes start tomorrow, and our uniforms are in the closet… oh yeah, Alex did say we had uniforms, I forgot." She said with a chuckle at the end.

"Great, uniforms… wait, who's Alex?" Marriott asked after a little sarcasm.

"Our sister, she was a student here a few years ago." Silver answered.

"So you two follow in your sister's footsteps huh?"

Silver chuckled again. "It kinda runs in the family actually, our parents were hunters too."

"The both of you must know a lot then." Olivia assumed. "That's a bunch of knowledge around you all at the same time."

"Well at the very least, we did get enough training to last us practically a lifetime." Silver said, not really sure if she was joking or not.

Olivia nodded, then drew back to the message from Ozpin. "Well, if classes are starting tomorrow, we better get ready."

Silver nodded. "Yeah, we probably don't want to end up like team RWBY."

"Just so long as you don't do something to make us late, we'll be fine." Olivia said as she walked into the bathroom.

"I'll try my best." Silver said, rolling her eyes for the umpteenth time of the day.

An awkward silence filled the room after that until Marriott broke it. "Alright, before any possible shouting match can begin, let's just get ready for bed. We should go to sleep a little early just to be sure we'll have time tomorrow morning before class."

Silver and Koel **(yes, she is still here)** nodded, and they did just that, their anticipated what awaited them tomorrow.

* * *

 **... crappy ending is crappy, I know. But crappy ending aside, let me just say that these next few chapters might be a little boring compared to the initiation ones except for one that I'm planning on being chapter 10, so bear with me here ;), and yes that chapter is one of the ones that I got a great idea for, so hopefully things won't be so dull.**

 **And one more note, on my profile I have added some story ideas, two of which I know I will write some day soon, so if you're interested in any future stories from me, go there and check it out, and also if YOU have an idea of your own for maybe a one-shot or something that I could write, let me know, I'm more than welcoming to new ideas. Anyway, that's all I got to say, so I'll see you guys next chapter! (I suck at endings)**


	10. Class is in session

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own RWBY, but I unfortunately will own the report card that comes out on Monday )':**

 **Hey everybody! I don't have much to talk about here, but something I will say is that this chapter, while for the first half of it, was kinda boring for me to write, this actually is one of my favorites, mainly because of what I have planned for chapter 10.**

 **This chapter is basically just their first day of classes, that's pretty much it, but a lot of it is setting up for what happens next chapter, which I am so freaking excited to write, I have been waiting to write this next chapter for a couple weeks, and I finally can!**

 **Anyway, enough of that, please read and enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

' _BEEP, BEEP, BEEP~'_

Three groans were heard around the room as the alarm went off over and over again without halt, and as they got out of their beds, they noticed that a certain leader wasn't in hers, and that the bathroom light could be seen in the small space between the door and floor.

Their confused expressions mirrored each other perfectly. "Why would she be up already?" Koel asked as she rubbed her eyes to get the morning gunk out of them.

Just as she asked this, the door swung open to reveal the source of their confusion, and in her uniform already no less. Silver noticed their looks of perplexity, and she chuckled quietly. "Uh, good morning."

"How long have you been up?" Marriott asked.

Silver shrugged. "Maybe, like, around thirty minutes? I don't know why I woke up so early, but whatever. I've always been an early riser I guess."

"Why didn't you wake us up then?" Olivia then asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"I just thought you would appreciate it if I let you all sleep until the alarm, was I incorrect?"

Koel shook her head as she got up and stretched a bit. "No, it's fine, thank you I guess."

"Just as long as we still have enough time to get ready that is." Olivia said with her eyes narrowed and a lowered voice, practically daring Silver to say anything she didn't want to her to say.

"Take it easy would ya, you got a whole two hours before class starts, so calm down." Silver retorted, matching her look and tone.

They stared each other down for a few moments while Koel and Marriott uneasily watched on the side, ready to jump in if anything more than steely dialogue came out of this.

In the end however, nothing did as Olivia sighed, and muttered a short "whatever", before she gathered her clothes and headed into the bathroom, not further batting an eye over at Silver.

"I would really like to know what her problem is with you." Marriott said wonderingly. "It's not like you've done something so wrong."

Silver gave a long, irksome sigh. "Believe me Marriott, I wish I knew what her big issue is, but hopefully it won't translate to an issue in any classrooms, or anywhere really."

No further words were shared as they spent the rest of the morning getting ready, with occasional whining from Marriott about the fact that they had to have uniforms, and one consistent hour of this later, they went on their way to the cafeteria.

They had suspected that during breakfast, teams RWBY and JNPR would call them over to sit with them, and sure enough, they did, and since they didn't really have many other places to sit, they took the invitation.

They didn't really talk much, they mainly just ate and listened to whatever things were exchanged between the two upper-class teams, and only occasionally speaking up to answer generic questions like "how do you like Beacon so far", or "aren't you excited", and various other questions like that.

But one question from Weiss did catch their attention more than the others. "So Silver, Ozpin said that you are sixteen, not seventeen. Is this true?"

This caught the platinum-haired faunus off guard momentarily, but she regained her senses quickly. "Oh, well yeah actu-"

"Wait," Olivia sharply interrupted, glancing just as sharply at her partner. "You mean to tell us that you are under-aged? How the hell were you accepted then?" Her 'question' ended up sounding more accusatory.

Silver glared at her as she retorted. "My sister sent him videos of me, and he wanted me here. Is that a problem?" Her tone matched Olivia's perfectly.

"What, the fact that our leader is not even the correct age to be in this school? No, not a problem at all." The rejoinder was practically dripping with sarcasm of the highest caliber.

Crimson eyes locked with sky blue ones as another glaring contest ensued as everyone at the table awkwardly observed in silence for a few seconds. "… I'm going to go out on a limb and say that you two haven't exactly gotten along yet." Yang said with a raised eyebrow.

The two girls stopped scowling at each other and looked away completely. "You have no idea." Silver said with an irritated huff.

"What was your first clue?" Olivia then sarcastically asked with a maddened grumble.

"These two haven't done anything in the way of being nice." Marriott said.

"Well, it is always awkward being partners at first. It takes time to get used to." Ruby said, hoping those were the right words for the situation.

Marriott rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but these two are a special case of that, I can already tell."

"Well, whether they like each other or not right now, they'll need to get used to being around each other for a while." Pyrrha said, getting two cavils from the two in question as a response.

Another quick silence ensued before Ruby spoke. "Y'know, I'm actually sixteen also, so it's not like Silver's the only one here."

This caught the first year team by surprise. "Seriously?" Marriott asked in astonishment. "But you're a second year though, right?"

Ruby nodded. "Yeah, I was accepted last year when I was fifteen. So, if I can do it, so can Silver."

Silver didn't say anything, but inside she got a sudden spark of confidence at hearing this, and a little bit of comfort as well, knowing that, at the very least, she wasn't exactly the only one of her kind, in the way of age, in the school.

The subject wasn't touched upon for the rest of the breakfast, but Olivia still had the whole situation replaying over and over in her mind. _'_ _Ugh, is this world against me or something? First I get partnered with a faunus, then this faunus_ _gets to be our team leader, and now I find out this faunus is a full year younger than required. Oh gods, what have I gotten myself into?'_

* * *

"Hello everybody, and welcome to your first class as students here at Beacon, I am professor Peter Port, and this is..."

It was evident early on to team SMOK, and pretty much every other student in the classroom, that professor Port was a story teller, and that was understating it by a fair amount, and after a while of his first story about how he was SO freaking brave in defeating a whole pack of Grimm all by himself, and blah blah blah, Silver kinda tuned a lot of everything else out, and when she did, her mind, almost by default, went back to the… interesting relationship that her and Olivia had developed.

It was bothering her to no end that, for some unexplained reason, the sword-wielder just loathed her, and with a burning passion at that, and to make that even worse, Silver knew that when people didn't like her, the main thing she always did was throw it all back. It was hard for her to explain why, but it had just become her natural instinct to react to distaste in the same way, and since Olivia seemed to have a lot of this for her, for whatever rationale it was, this wasn't going to be a pretty partnership between them, and she knew that was bad since it's just the first day of classes, and she is already thinking this.

The main thing that was getting her about it though was the fact that the orange-haired girl wouldn't tell her a thing about what it was that made her abhor come so easily. _'If she could just tell me, we might actually get somewhere positive, because otherwise, I don't_ _know_ _what would be right or wrong around her. Ugh, this is not what I signed up for.'_

Her thoughts were interrupted by Port clearing his throat. "Excuse me Ms. Porcello." Her head snapped back up at the mention of her name, she hadn't even realized that she had her head angled down, looking at the table.

"Uh, y-yes professor?" She stuttered out.

Port raised an eyebrow at her. "I would appreciate it if your attention was on my words, and NOT on what might be flashing through your mind. Could you please do that for me?"

She felt herself start to blush in embarrassment. "Yes, I'm sorry."

"Good. Since this is your first day, I will only let you off with a warning, so make sure it doesn't happen again."

Silver nodded, and she heard some students start to snicker around her, and she slumped back farther into her seat, her blush intensifying quickly. _'Alright, it might be a good idea to actually pay attention to what's going on now. This is not going to be my reputation here.'_

The rest of the class went without incident, and as they were leaving, Olivia walked past Silver, and shot her a quick scowl. "Nice one leader. Great first impression for us." She sarcastically said, then walked off to their next class.

Silver had to hold back the urge to retort, and successfully did, knowing that nothing positive would be the result. She felt an arm wrap around her shoulders, and she looked over to see Koel, a comforting smile on her face. "Don't worry about it Silver, I have no doubt that a lot is going through your mind. Just try to shove all that out until classes are over." The younger faunus nodded, and they went on their way.

* * *

"GoodmorningeveryoneandwelcometohistoryclassIamdoctorOobleck..."

Oobleck talked so fast, it's like he took a breath every hundred words, and Silver tried, oh she tried to keep up as best she could, but after about half the class period, she had completely lost track of what was going on, and she was absolutely positive she wasn't the only one. _'I'm kinda surprised that even HE knows what the hell he's talking about.'_

"Excuse me, Ms. Porcello?"

Silver once again hadn't noticed she had her head down, and now she was in trouble again because of it. _'Damn nervous habits.'_ "Yes?" She responded as she brought her head back up to look at the overactive teacher.

"Could you please give me an explanation on why you look like you're in your own world, and not this one?"

Silver nervously scratched the back of her neck. "Um, I'm sorry professor Ooble-"

"DOCTOR Oobleck, thank you very much." He quickly cut her off to correct her.

"U-uh, okay, d-doctor Oobleck… I'm sorry, but you talk so fast, it's kinda difficult for me to keep up."

"You're not the only one," A male voice behind her said. "I lost track ten minutes ago."

Oobleck shook his head at them. "Well you're just going to have to get used to it, because this is how it's going to be every day, now anyway..." He continued on without another word on the matter, and Silver looked over to her team, Koel looking briefly at her as well, shaking her head with a chuckle, while Marriott looked no less confused, and even Olivia seemed to be having trouble keeping up.

As they were walking out after class ended, Marriott looked over at her teammates. "So… did anyone of you get ANYTHING he was saying?" All she got as an answer was the shakes of their heads.

* * *

The next class didn't even need an introduction, everyone already knew what was next, and it intimidated all of them just as much as it excited them. This was…

"Hello everyone, and welcome to sparring class." Yup, and their teacher didn't even need to introduce herself, since the students had already seen her three times before this, and she was the main source of the intimidation.

Silver, and pretty much everyone else in the room, made DAMN WELL SURE that they were listening and paying attention to everything that was said and done by professor Goodwitch; they didn't want to be on the receiving end of whatever she would say and do if she caught them off in their own world.

After a few minutes of basic instruction of what would be specifically going on in the class, she got straight down to business. "Okay, now today, their will not be any actual sparring between any of you, their will just be basic practice, and what better thing for basic practice..." She trailed off as she directed their attention over to one end of the sparring area, and professor Port came out with a cage that was shaking way to much, and as he pushed it into the full light of the room, and they could see what looked like a Boarbatusk inside. "Than a perfectly alive Grimm. Now, who will be the one to demonstrate their fighting?" She asked herself, looking upon the students.

Murmurs were heard amongst the students about the fact that they were getting "practice" by fighting a freaking Grimm, as Silver thought about the whole situation. _'What I want to know is how they got one of those in here in the first place.'_

"How about you Ms. Porcello?" She heard Glynda say, disrupting her train of thought. "Why don't you come down here and show us how you fight?"

' _Of course it would be me.'_ She thought, but nodded. Of course she was going to do it, she wasn't going to be a coward in front of everybody. Also, today hasn't exactly been the greatest day ever, so this could help her vent some of the frustration she was feeling.

She heard Koel whisper a quick "be careful", as walked on down to the sparring area, and stood firmly on the other side of the floor, activated Azurewrath, and took her stance. "Are you ready Ms. Porcello?" Silver nodded, ready to show everyone what she is capable of. "Good. Open the cage Peter, and begin!"

As soon as the cage was opened, the Boarbatusk went on a straight beeline at her, and it was a lot faster than she initially anticipated, and right before it got to her, it ducked its head down, ready to propel it back up to skewer her with its tusks, but before it could, she sidestepped out of the way. The Boarbatusk skidded to a stop and redirected itself, and charged her again, just to have her once again sidestep away. This was the whole fight for about a minute, exactly how Silver typically liked it when

she was fighting alone so she could feel her opponent out and get a good idea of their attack patterns, and occasionally landing hits when she saw an opening.

But as Silver thought she had a good idea of all the Boarbatusk could do, it stopped for a quick second, and suddenly started to spin rapidly in place. _'Wait, what?'_ She thought confusedly, and after this thought, it rolled its body directly at her at a high rate of speed, barely giving her any time to react. She quietly yelped, and barely jumped out of the way. When she turned around to face it, she saw that it stopped briefly, and she saw her chance to finish it. She lunged at it and unleashed a quick flurry of jabs and stabs at it, but unfortunately, it didn't quite finish it off, as it defended against her last few attempts.

She jumped back and took a quick breath, and she got an idea as to how to kill it. As she jumped back from it, she made sure that she was in front of a wall, and when she found herself in front of one, the Boarbatusk had successfully recovered, and it charged at her for one last time, and she sidestepped to avoid it, and it crashed headfirst into the wall, and fell over onto its back, and before it could recover from this, Silver ran forward and, with a brief shout, she thrust her right arm down, and stabbed it through its stomach with her wrist blade, and as it cried out in pain, she shot a couple bullets into its stomach as well, making sure that it was not recovering from this.

It dissipated, and she heard some applauds from some of the students, and she deactivated Azurewrath as she turned around to face professor Goodwitch. "Well done Ms. Porcello. Your strong and agile, you definitely remind me of your sister from a few years ago." Silver faintly blushed at the compliment. It never ceased to flatter her when she was compared to her sister when it came to her fighting skill. "However, your style might need a little more refinement. I see some holes in your attacks that could prove to be problematic in the future, but good job regardless. You may go sit back down now."

The faunus nodded. "Thank you professor Goodwitch." And with that, she went back to her seat.

After sparring class, the rest of the day kinda flew on by. They ate lunch and dinner with teams RWBY and JNPR, both of which asking a variety of questions on how the day went, but none of them daring to question what had been going between Silver and Olivia during the day, for they didn't really want to start something between the two. After all, how many more glaring contests would their be before something really broke out.

That night, as they were coming back from dinner, Olivia took their attention when they got to their dorm. "Koel, Marriott, you two go on ahead into the dorm, I want to talk to Silver real quick."

The three others froze, and looked over at the orange-haired girl. "Um, are you sure?" Koel asked, afraid of what she wanted to "talk" about, and she only got a quick glare as an answer, which immediately shut her up.

Marriott glanced between Silver and Olivia for a second, then sighed. "Just make sure that we don't hear you shouting to loud, and that we also don't hear any explosions go off. Could you do that for us please?" She said as she opened the door, and dragged Koel in quickly.

Silver faced Olivia and narrowed her eyes questioningly. "Well, spit it out, what do you want to "talk" about?" She asked as she leaned on her side against the wall.

Olivia gave her a "shut up and listen" kind of look. "After sparring class, I asked professor Goodwitch who your sister exactly was. She told me that she was one of the best students they had ever had, both academically, AND fighting wise."

Silver was confused as to what that had to do with anything. "Okay, and?"

Olivia sighed, and gave her a razor-sharp glare. "Listen well here Silver, don't think for a single second at ANY time here, that just because you are the sister of one of the greatest students to graduate here, and you got in a year early, and you're team leader, and all that crap, that you are someone SO special, and someone SO high above me. I will not deal with, nor be led by someone like that. Capiche?"

' _Oh, so that's it.'_. "I have not thought for a second that I am above anyone else here. So I got in a year early, big freaking deal, doesn't mean I'm going to let something so insignificant go to my head. I'm a student just like everyone else here, and I have to do just as much to become a huntress like everybody else. I'll make sure of that." She tried to make her tone as purposeful as possible.

But apparently, that wasn't quite enough for Olivia. "You better, because if you think at some time that you are better than anyone hear, you will have another thing coming."

Silver narrowed her eyes at her again. "Are you threatening me or something?"

Olivia kept her glare strong. "If you don't do anything to warrant any kind of action, you won't have to know."

Silver could hear the warning in her voice, but being who she is, she wasn't backing down from this, so she stopped leaning on the wall, and walked slowly over to Olivia, and spoke with a low voice. "The same could be said for you." She locked her crimson eyes with Olivia's sky blue ones as she continued. "Just because I'm a year younger than you, doesn't mean I'm going to turn around and run away like a scared little kid. I plan on proving myself here, and if it takes showing YOU, personally, I will. You can threaten, and warn me all you want, but the last thing I'm going to do is back down from you, and if you're going to test me on that, then I'm more than willing to comply."

Their most intense glaring contest ensued, and without any words for a few moments, until Olivia broke the tense silence, while still not looking away. "Fine then, I'd love to see you try."

"Challenge accepted." Silver replied without a moments hesitation, also not looking away.

Their contest continued for a few more seconds, until Olivia opened the door and walked into the dorm, not speaking another word.

Silver watched her enter the dorm, and she sighed. _'This is going to be a fun four years.'_ And with that bitter thought, she walked into the dorm as well, ready to just end this day and put it behind her.

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 **I suck at fighting scenes, but whatever. I'm sure you guys at least have an idea for what happens next, but I won't spoil anything about the next chapter. Hopefully I'll have it up before next weekend, but I have no idea. But anyway, if you enjoyed, or just have something to say in general, please leave a review, and I'll see you guys next chapter! (I'm so excited!)**


	11. Mistake?

**DISCLAIMER: Unlike the annoyingly long time it took for this to be uploaded, I don't own RWBY**

 **IT'S FINALLY HERE! I'm SO sorry it's been a few weeks since the last actual chapter, and I chose the wrong time to have a delay like this, and my computer also chose the wrong time to utterly crap-out on me like it did, but it's all good, chapter 10, a chapter I have looked forward too for a long time now, and one I also hyped up quite a bit, is FINALLY HERE, so have fun reading everybody!**

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The first week of classes went by… relatively well, at least in comparison to the first day. They were starting to get the hang of how things worked at Beacon, they were starting to get comfortable with the lifestyle, in the classrooms, they were familiarizing themselves with the teachers (this did not make keeping up with Profe-DOCTOR Oobleck, and dealing with Professor Port's stories any easier though), and they even had two teams, upperclassmen no less, that they could be friends with.

As for the girls of team SMOK themselves, it was almost a tale of two halves it seemed, on one end Koel and Marriott seemed to have been just fine with one another, Koel was still a little shy and a bit insecure around her, and in public in general still, but little-by-little, Marriott was getting her to open up.

On the other side of the team however, no progress seemed to have been made… like, at all. If anything, it had actually gotten worse between the two. They hardly even looked at each other, let alone spoke.

Neither of them planned on it being like this of course, but they couldn't really help it for some reason. Well actually, it was quite obvious why, between Olivia's near-complete disregard for any respect she could offer, and Silver's habit to retaliate to her behavior in the same fashion, it was really no wonder there was immense detest between them.

And it was starting to get on the nerves of the other two. They were annoyed with the fact that no matter what they would try, it wouldn't work, whether it was training sessions together (which typically ended with things destroyed), ideas to go out into Vale (they were lucky to get any kind of response), or just leaving them alone in the dorm (commonly ending in a noise complaint, or one of them straight up leaving the room shortly after them), nothing at all seemed to get them to at least be somewhat nice.

They knew that Silver and Olivia couldn't keep this up for much longer, they were partners for goodness sake, they HAD to be able to work together and communicate, especially since Silver was their leader, and if they didn't get things straightened out between them, it could mean serious problems.

Plus, they were around each other all the time anyway, so eventually they would find something that they could bond over, so it couldn't stay this way forever, no, definitely not… right?

"Alright class, today I want to try a bit of a partner exercise," Professor Goodwitch informed her class. "The purpose being to evaluate how you have gotten along with each other, and how well you can work together. Any questions?"

"Uh, well, what will we be doing?" A male voice in the very back of the room asked feebly.

Glynda rolled her eyes at the obvious question. "Well, if you direct your attention over to the end of the arena..." She trailed off, pointing the students in the direction that she was speaking of, and two cages, looking just like the one from the first day, only a bit bigger, was being pushed into the room, once again by Port. "I'm sure you could figure out the rest. Any other questions, perhaps ones that aren't as plain?"

"Why do you always have Grimm for us to 'practice' against?" Another voice, this time female, asked while using air quotes around the work "practice".

"Insignificant," Professor Goodwitch "answered" immediately, then started looking amongst the students. "First up will be..." As she was browsing over the students, Silver internally hoped it wouldn't be her and Olivia, she knew that couldn't end well, not right now, not at the current stage that their relationship (if you really wanted to call it that) was in. _'Please not us, please not us, please not us'._ "Ms. Porcello, and Ms. Doncieux, come on down."

Silver threw her head back in vexation. _'Are you freaking seri-who am I kidding, I should've expected this.'_ She really should have. In this type of situation, doesn't it always end up the opposite of what you wanted?

She heard Olivia sigh as she got up, and walked by her, tapping her on the knee as she went by. "I'm no more excited than you are, but we have too, so come on." She muttered. Silver sighed, then lifted her head back up to see Olivia walking down the to the floor. As the faunus got herself up, she quickly glanced over at Koel and Marriott, and shook her head, as they just shrugged in return, not really sure of what else they could do.

She trudged down to the floor as well, dreading what they had to do. It wasn't like she was scared of fighting Grimm, she's proven that already, twice in fact, what she dreaded was having to work with Olivia for something like this before they could even remotely get along with one another. She reached the floor, and planted herself (hesitantly of course) next to Olivia, who, despite their current circumstances, seemed to be composed for the most part.

Of course she would see her as that, Olivia had always been a pretty good actress. Truth was, while she did say herself that she was "no more excited", that was understating it by a fair amount, she really was… worried she supposed. Worried with the fact that her and Silver hadn't made any progress in their partnership, and they mutually shared the blame in that (not like they'd admit this though), and this led to her being worried about just how much this would effect them going forward, at least until they got things straightened out, but who knows how long that would take. They would first have to get past their own personal problems before that could happen.

Koel and Marriott were practically shaking in their seats. They knew the two were plenty good enough to fight off numbers of Grimm by themselves, and they had the potential, with their combined skill, to possibly take out hordes of them if they could work together, but that's what troubled them, at this point, they didn't look like they could, and it scared them to watch how this could end.

Of course with Koel technically being Silver's big sister, and quite overprotective at that when she felt like she needed to be, she was always going to worry about Silver, even if it embarrassed her (which she knew it did), but over the years, it had become her natural instinct to protect, and always be there for the younger faunus. Whether she got this from Alexandrite, or from being around Silver so much when they were younger, she didn't know, but she did know she didn't want to be alone, like how she felt in the orphanage all those years ago, for she knew Alex couldn't always be there, and if anything were to happen to Silver… Koel shuddered at the thought.

But she knew that was an obvious risk when being a huntress, and it was a risk they were taking together. Well, except now, because Silver's safety wasn't in her hands right now, but instead they were in the hands of somebody who didn't seem to interested in doing so.

And if that didn't change soon, then there would be some serious hell to pay.

"Draw your weapons, and get set you two." Professor Goodwitch ordered, and they did so, Silver flicking her wrists downward to activate Azurewrath, and Olivia simply drawing her sword, Orenjiburedo, out of it's sheath around her hip, then they got into their stances, both of them taking a deep breath as they did so, and exhaling, trying to calm themselves. "Are you ready?" They nodded, but not without a moment of hesitation. "Very well, begin!" And with that, Port opened the cages, and instead of Boarbatusks, two Beowolves instead stalked out, and they quickly caught sight of their targets, and the Beowolves hunkered down, growling, and after a couple seconds of stillness, they charges the girls.

The fight started well for the most part, but it was apparent that the two partners were somewhat struggling with each other, not overly so, but still enough that you could see it, they didn't seem as fast as they were during initiation, or hitting as hard either. In other words, it seemed like they weren't completely focused on the current task, and it was impairing their focus.

As the battle progressed, things started to unravel slowly, and they got progressively sloppier, they didn't appear to be in sink with each other at all.

This was made especially obvious when Olivia suddenly cut in front of Silver to attack one of the Beowolves, seeming to completely ignore the faunus' clear order to go after the other one. "Hey!" Silver exclaimed as Olivia attacked the Beowolf she was after, but she didn't have any second to do anything further as the other Beowolf, the one that she ordered Olivia to take out, suddenly appeared right next to her, and brought its claw down on her. She yelped as she was barely able to deflect the blow thanks to her literal cat-like reflexes, and she stumbled a bit, the attack, while defending herself, still knocking her back.

At this point, between the problems she and Olivia have already had, then this train wreck of a fight, and now Olivia seemingly DISREGARDING her orders, Silver has had anger building up inside her, so she figured now was a good time to finally let all that loose. She got her footing back under her, then retook her stance, and waited on the Beolwolf to charge her again. It did after a quick moment, and it launched itself at her, but it just so happened to be its own mistake. When it was close enough to her, she got down on a knee, and once its head was over her, she propelled her fist up and into its neck, Azurewrath impaling straight through. It fell to the ground, and gave a couple of pathetic growls, which came out more like whimpers after having a wrist blade go through its throat, and waved its paws out in front of it in a pathetic last-ditch effort to bring her down with it, but after a couple seconds of this, it stopped moving, and it started to dissipate.

While it was in the process of disappearing, she heard a grunt from Olivia behind her, and she turned around to see her 'partner' falling to the ground as she narrowly avoided a swipe of the Beolwolves' claw, and after a brisk second of convincing herself, she ran to her aid, and input herself directly between Olivia, and the Beowolf. The Grimm snarled at her appearance, and bared its teeth, then assailed itself toward them, but as it was, Silver activated her semblance, then an electric charge covered the blades of Azurewarth, and she put up her hands as the Beolwolf got to her, and it came in contact with the electricity.

It bounced back, and howled in pain as it was electrocuted. Olivia then saw her chance to finish the battle, and after quickly checking to make sure the other Beowolf was gone, she channeled her own semblance, and she disappeared from her position on the floor. Silver noticed this, and remembered what exactly the orange-haired girl's semblance was, and she knew what was coming next. And sure enough, Olivia reappeared behind the still distracted Beowolf, and stabbed it through its middle, then she shoved it up its back, and through its head, cutting it in half from its mid-back, and everything up, and it immediately started to evaporate into black and purple smoke.

Silver sighed, and deactivated Azurewrath, then she looked at Olivia with a hard, questioning look as she too was sheathing her sword. "What the hell was that? You didn't follow what I said." But all she got in response was a lackadaisical shrug, and Silver gritted her teeth, suddenly feeling her blood start to boil.

"That was surprisingly underwhelming." Professor Goodwitch commented, which reminded the two that they were being watched, and Silver slumped her shoulders at this. "I believe we already found a set of partners that need to do a little work." The girls winced at the hint of sarcasm in her voice. They knew it was true, and they were sure that everybody else in the room knew it as well, this was an extremely disappointing performance, and it embarrassed them to be seen like they were right now.

They went back to their seats, and Koel looked at them in sympathy, while Marriott just shook her head, and sighed, not really sure of what to say, or what to do. As the class went on, and more pairs were sent down, Silver was not paying attention to any of it, but instead she was focusing on what she was going to do about Olivia, and she knew what it was, which was to simply confront her about it. The only question now was how much this would escalate from here.

The rest of the class went by without any further incident, all they did was watch other pairs of partners from other teams get called down to prove themselves, Marriott and Koel being one of them, and their time surely went much better than their teammates. But when class ended, and they had gathered all their stuff to leave, Silver grabbed Olivia tightly by her wrist, and started to pull her forcefully, and roughly out into the hallway. "Hey, what do you thi-" Olivia started, but was quickly cut off. "Shut up, and come with me." Not like she really had a choice right now.

Silver all but dragged Olivia into the gym, which was just down the hall from Professor Goodwitch's room, and it was was luckily, and surprisingly vacant right now, then she turned around to face her with a glare that could freeze somebody then melt them right after. "What the hell is wrong with you!? Why won't you listen to anything I say!?"

It was clear that Silver was incensed, why wouldn't she be? She was partnered up with someone who wouldn't listen to a damn thing she said, as previously established, and she has had quite enough. Yet despite the hostile tone and glare, Olivia was not phased, and she just shrugged, looking totally indifferent to the situation. "I just simply don't want to, is it truly so difficult to understand?"

Silver's eyes narrowed at this. "Then why? Elaborate as to why you 'simply don't want to'?"

Olivia this time matched her look, and she was ready to finally dish out all that she had held in ever since Silver was appointed leader. She'd held in everything she's wanted to say because she knew it would compromise the faunus' emotions one way or another, but at this moment in time, none of that simply mattered, and she wanted nothing more than to finally let it all loose, and let it loose she did. "You want to know why? It's because you're not meant to be here, let alone be a LEADER. You're under-aged, you're overrated, you're unprepared, and you're spoiled, and you just aren't ready, nor are you meant to be here, or lead here you… you… ANIMAL!"

Yep, certainly didn't hold anything back there, and her words definitely didn't miss there mark. She saw the crimson eyes of the faunus widen, and she looked away, down to the ground, her silver bangs hiding her face. Silver started shaking, her ears pinned themselves against her head, and Olivia thought if she had a tail it would be swinging wildly behind her, and for a moment she thought she actually might've been a bit too hard on the girl. She thought that at any moment now she might even hear tears start hitting the ground, or Silver would run away before that could happen.

But instead, what she got was some scratchy sounding words. "So that's all you see me as huh? Just an animal?" Silver then snapped her head back up to Olivia, showing off her most fierce and intense glare thus far, as she continued with a hostile tone, and her teeth gritted, showing off her sharp fang like teeth. "Well you know what, I don't care if that's what you think of me, I don't care if I'm just an animal to you, I don't care if you think I don't belong, I DON'T CARE what you think, because in the end, not only am I your leader, but I am also your PARTNER, so no matter what, you HAVE to listen to me if either of us are going to be successful here." She then slowly strided over to Olivia, her hands clinched tightly into fists. "And if you don't like that, then why don't you show me?"

Needless to say, Olivia was more than willing to accept that challenge. She swiftly grabbed Silver by the collar of her jacket, and slammed her against the wall of the gym. "You want me to show you, then **FINE**!" She shouted as she then threw a punch with her left hand that was aimed straight at Silver's face. Silver brought her own left hand to grab her wrist before it could land, and she squeezed tightly, trying to snap said wrist, and her other hand went to Olivia's shoulder, trying to keep her from getting closer, as Olivia grunted in discomfort at the pressure on her wrist, trying to pull it away.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!?" A loud shout came from outside, then the door burst open, and the two furious girls froze in their struggle to look at the source of the shout, and their eyes went wide.

Olivia, after one last quick shove to Silver, backed away, and looked down. "Nothing, professor Goodwitch." She answered a little quietly, but the blonde professor heard it, and said professor narrowed her eyes in an unamused fashion.

"Yes, it indeed looked like a whole lot of nothing. It sure was silly of me to think I heard shouting out here, and then see you pinning Ms. Porcello to a wall. I agree, definitely nothing."

Olivia sighed and slumped her shoulders. The sarcastic, almost mocking tone was a bit demoralizing. "Ms. Doncieux," Goodwitch addressed her, and she hesitantly looked up at her. "You go back to your team's dorm, while Ms. Porcello comes with me." She said, turning back and walking down the hall, motioning for Silver to follow.

Silver's eyes meanwhile widened at this. "What? Why me!?"

Glynda turned around to face her with a chilling scowl. "Ms. Porcello… now." She commanded.

Silver angrily sighed, then cast off one more quick glare back at Olivia, and the orange-haired girl swore she saw literal lightning bolts going across the crimson eyes of the faunus, before she turned her head away to heed her professor's command. "Yes professor Goodwitch." And she started following behind the combat instructor.

Olivia watched them walk out of the gym, before turning around and sighing. "It's going to be fun explaining this to Koel and Marriott." She whispered to herself, and started walking back to the dorm.

This was probably the most nervous Silver had ever been… okay, maybe that was overstating it a bit, but she was still nervous as hell, why wouldn't she be? She knew she was about to get chewed out by the single most intimidating, and imposing individual in Beacon, but she was still wondering why it was her, and not Olivia. _'Is it because I'm leader, that no matter what, it's all my fault and responsibility?'_

They finally reached the sparring arena/classroom, the same one Silver and Olivia were humiliated in just mere minutes ago, and just the thought of it made Silver seethe again, but she made sure to push that away, at least as best she could. The headmistress of Beacon turned around to face the faunus with a near unreadable expression, and she spoke in the same fashion. "So Ms. Porcello, would you like to explain to me what the problem is between you and your partner is?"

An exasperated sigh escaped her as she closed her eyes. "The problem is that she is freaking impossible for me to work with." That was seriously the best way she could say it, at least without some… more colorful ways to describe it.

The headmistress' eyes hardened. "Please be more specific. What do you mean by 'impossible'?"

"I mean she's literally making it impossible to work with her." She answered while rubbing her temples. "How am I supposed to work with someone when they don't listen to anything I say?"

Glynda sighed as she thought about what she could say next. This wasn't exactly the first time she's had to deal with something like this, but at the same time, it kind of was. It wasn't new that two partners were having… trouble with each other, especially if a faunus is involved, but she couldn't recall any of these past situations getting so… intense, especially to the point of straightforward hostility.

"Have you tried anything to get to know why she would act the way she does?" Ugh, there had to have been a better question or choice of words, or something, but at the moment, she was coming up with a blank in that department.

Silver groaned. "Yes I have, I've tried talking to her about it, I even offered to help with whatever it is, but all she did was blow me off and say that I didn't need to know anything about her. But I do think she hates faunus', and if that is true, that would explain pretty much everything, or a lot of it at least."

Glynda raised an eyebrow at this, hoping this wouldn't come down as just blind racial hate in the end. "What exactly give you this idea?"

Silver looked away, and took a few seconds to brace herself for what she was about to admit, and also to water the sudden fire that was starting to burn in her again. "… she called me an animal, Professor Goodwitch, a freaking _animal_." The word coming "animal" coming out in a literal cat-like growl the last time.

Glynda's eyes widened at this, and her jaw slacked slightly in disbelief at the mention of someone being called this, not only straight to their face, but also by their own partner. Of course everyone knew it was sadly frequent on the streets, but her and Ozpin have done everything they could to make sure that faunus' of all kind were happy and comfortable at Beacon, which mainly meant around humans, and vice versa. "Did she seriously call you this? How deplorable."

Silver looked at her with a desperate look in her eyes. "Do you have any idea how it feels to be called that? Do you know how… demoralizing that is?" She asked, her eyes filled with fraught, and her voice strained. She knew she looked and sounded very vulnerable, even extremely so, and it wasn't a side of her she showed much, nor liked to show, but she couldn't help it. How else was she supposed to feel when she was just called something so much less than what she truly is?

Glynda looked at the distraught girl with sympathy. "I apologize Ms. Porcello, I will certainly be having a conversation with your partner about this. For now, go find something to do that'll either calm you down or blow off some steam, just make sure it's not too destructive please."

Silver nodded, and turned to walk out, but she stopped at the doorway, and turned halfway to look at her professor. "Professor Goodwitch… did Ozpin make a mistake in letting me in here?" She suddenly asked.

Needless to say, this caught Glynda by surprise, she had never had a student actually ask if it was a mistake that they were here, at least not that she could recall. "What do you mean? Is that something Ms. Doncieux said?"

Silver shook her head, and looked down. "No, but I know that's what she thinks. She said I'm overrated, and that I am not meant to lead." Her voice had taken a clear overcast tone.

Glynda shook her head and sighed. "A student should never say that to another student, especially so early in the year, who knows what that could do to a team's future all-around performance. Ms. Porcello, it is far to soon to say if it was a mistake or not, so the only thing I can really advise right now is to do your best to make it as far from a mistake as possible."

"But why did he make ME leader? I've never led anything in my life."

The blonde professor could hear the distress in her student's voice. "But a lot of the team leader's have never led before either, so you're not alone. If you need, you can try to go to one of them for help on the matter, I'm sure some would be more than willing to assist you, and don't forget about all the other professor's, we're not just here to teach you on matters in the classroom and out on the battlefield, we're also here to help on any issue a student may have. But for now, how about you go find something that'll cool you off?" She suggested, hoping this would be enough for the perturbed faunus.

Silver nodded, and turned back to walk out. "Thank you Professor Goodwitch." With that, she walked out and down the hall, already knowing where and how she's going to "cool off". _'Going to the gym to smack around some punching bags would be a good way to vent some anger.'_

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 **Sooooooo what'd you guys think? Was it worth the wait? Again, I can't apologize enough for the random delay, but i just had way too many stuff going on at the same time, I was just burning out for a little while, but it's finally here, and hopefully I won't have another random gap between chapters, if anything, I want to get chapter 11 out by tomorrow to make up, but we'll see how that plan goes.**

 **Now I want to give you guys a little tidbit about the features of Silver's semblance, like the ones we saw during the whole 'interaction' between her and Olivia. When Silver gets really angry, her semblance starts to go a little out of control, kinda like how Yang's eyes get red, but instead electricity will start to spark around her body, and her eyes will literally have small bolts going through them, and believe me, this will not be the only time you will see that happen with her.**

 **That's all I got to say, I sincerely hope this wait was worth it, so please leave a review if it was or wasn't, I really think I did a good job with this one, but only you guys reading can be the true judges of that. See you guys next chapter, and don't worry, it won't be that long of a wait, I promise!**


	12. Even though I say

**DISCLAIMER: I don't even own RWBY in my wildest dreams**

 **ZOMG TWO CHAPTERS IN TWO DAYS BRUHHHHHH! Yes that's right, I said last time I wanted to get this chapter uploaded maybe today to make up for a few week delay, and LOOK AT IT, I ACTUALLY DID! This chapter will continue to focus completely on Silver and Olivia, but this will be the last one for a couple chapter, so if it's starting to get old, don't worry, there will be other things written for the next couple chapters. :D**

 **By the way, this chapter is named after a song by a band called Saint Asonia, and just like how I recommended Evans Blue, I strongly suggest Sain Asonia as well, especially if you like Three Days Grace, and if you don't know why, then you will be like mind = blown when you listen to Saint Asonia, just saying ;). Enjoy everybody!**

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Silver had lost track of how long she has been in the gym, and how long she has been knocking the stuffing out of this one punching bag… literally, she had seriously been hitting this thing so hard, and for so long, that the stuffing was starting to seep out of the small lacerations she had created in the leather covering.

She had a lot of anger to vent right now to say the least. The whole 'situation' with Olivia filled her with ire, and got her ready to fight whoever was daring enough to get on her bad side right now. _'I want nothing than to have a little more time_ _with_ _Olivia so I could show her just how 'overrated' I am.'_ She thought as she continued her onslaught on the punching bag with powerful punches and kicks that were purely powered by rage.

Throughout her besiege of attacks, she was thinking back to the core reason she's here in the first place, and how her and Olivia had practically despised each other since they pretty much came face-to-face, and thinking about it now, maybe she was better off not having even an idea of what it was with Olivia, because now that she DID, all she could see right now was _red_.

She stopped abruptly to take a deep breath, and also to try and compose herself, but this only made her think about it more, and she saw red again. "GAAAAHHHH!" She shouted out as she delivered a powerful spinning kick that was solely fueled by indignation, and it was strong enough to break the punching bag off of the stand it sat on, and it landed with a loud PLOP.

She stood there in front of where the bag was for a few seconds, breathing quick and heavy, and once again trying to pull herself together. "Geez, aren't you pissed or something?" A familiar voice then caught her attention, and also made her jump. She hadn't even heard anybody approaching, she must've been swept up in her anger so much to notice. She looked over, still breathing a little heavy, and she saw the four members of team RWBY walking over to her, curious looks plastered on all their faces.

Silver groaned. "What ever could have given you that idea?" She sarcastically said, finally able to control her breathing.

"Call it a hunch." Yang responded with a shrug. "What's gotten you so angry? You look like Yang when someone cuts her hair." Blake questioned, earning a weak glare from the blonde, and a giggle from said blonde's sister.

Silver sighed, and closed her eyes, trying to placate herself. "You know all the problems me an Olivia have had right?" The four upperclassmen just nodded. "Well… after sparring class, me and her had a bit of a… melt down with each other."

"Well that's not surprising," Weiss commented. "You two seemed to have been at each others throats already." All Silver did in return was nod, still with her eyes closed.

Ruby tilted her head at her. "Why though? What's been the problem between you two?"

Silver opened her eyes, and looked at the red-tipped girl with a crossed expression. "Dare I say it? I'm pretty sure she is a faunus hater first of all." She saw Blake visibly flinch at her words, and the other three falter as well. "But she also hates the fact that I'm here a year earlier than required." She looked away again, and clinched her fists as the memory's were already coming back at her again.

"Hmmm," Ruby hummed, then glancing at Weiss out of the corner of her eye. "Doesn't this sound familiar, huh Weiss?"

"Shut it, you dolt." Weiss quickly responded, causing the leader to giggle.

Silver looked back at them inquisitively. "What do you mean 'familiar'?"

"Me and Ruby had some similar trouble at the beginning of our first year." Weiss answered.

"Really?" Silver then remembered that Professor Goodwitch told her she could go to some teams for help on the matter, and she figured now, with this bit of information, was the best time to do so. "Can you please tell me how you two got through that? I don't exactly want this to last forever between me and Olivia you know."

Weiss and Ruby looked at each other briefly before facing the cat faunus again. "All I did was go to Professor Port, not exactly on purpose though, but he did tell me some things that I hadn't really thought about before. He put things into perspective for me, and made me think about things a little bit harder than I would've."

Ruby then gave her side. "I just did my best to prove myself to her, that's seriously all I really did. And that's really the only bit of advice I can give to you, just try your best to prove yourself to her, of course don't try to hard, that could only cause more trouble, but you know what I mean."

Indeed she did, and Silver absorbed as much of what they said as she could. Being a faunus, she always felt like she had to prove herself to anybody passing by, and it's probably why Alex always sent videos to Ozpin of her training and fighting, so that he could see for himself how good she was in advance, but she knew that Olivia was much harder to impress than the headmaster it seemed, and it was quite ironic actually, and she knew she would have a hell of a time figuring something out.

Olivia hadn't even gotten to the dorm before she got the dreaded message from Professor Goodwitch to meet her in the classroom, and as she got there, luckily without encountering Silver on the way, she slowly dragged herself in, immediately catching sight of the scowling professor. "Sit Ms. Doncieux, we have some things to discuss." Olivia could tell by her tone that she was in for it, and she instantly obliged.

A very uncomfortable silence ensued, and Olivia felt like she was going to burst from the nervousness that was building more and more inside her. "So Ms. Doncieux," Glynda started, breaking the silence. "I talked with Ms. Porcello about your problems, and she told me some… interesting things." She didn't respond, but instead nodded. "First of all, she told me that you said she was not meant to lead, and that she was overrated. Is this true?"

Olivia wanted desperately to deny, but she also knew that if she lied about something like this, it would only make things so much more worse, so she sighed, and braced herself for what would come next. "Yes." That was all she said to confirm.

Glynda nodded, but her scowl remained. "Why? Do you have any idea of what the effects of something like that being said could have on a team, especially so early in the year?" Olivia didn't respond, but instead just shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Seeing that she indeed wasn't going to say anything, Glynda sighed, and decided to bring up the other thing she had been told, and definitely the one that she wanted to be heard explained the most. "She also said that you called her an animal." Olivia visibly winced at this, though she expected this, but it still didn't keep her from flinching slightly. "Care to explain why you would say this?"

Olivia sighed again. She didn't want to explain anything about it, she would rather keep everything under raps for right now until she DID feel comfortable, but after a couple seconds of contemplating if she should explain right now or not, Professor Goodwitch saved her from that. "Does it have something to do with the White Fang?"

Good guess, though it probably wasn't that hard to figure out, most everybody who feel some sort of acrimony toward faunus draws back to the White Fang somehow, whether it's just news they've heard about them, or in Olivia's case, personal experience. "You could say that I guess. It's hard to explain."

Personal experience?" Spot on again. "Would you like to talk about it?"

Olivia shook her head as she hung it low. "It's… not something I want to talk about right now.

Glynda sighed quietly and nodded. She could tell this was a very touchy subject, and despite wanting to know and help, she wasn't going to push for any information. "I respect that, so I will not try to force anything out of you," Olivia felt relieved that she wasn't going to be pushed for anything, but she still wasn't feeling comfortable, because she knew what was coming next. "But," She was correct. "I will say that you need to not let whatever experience you had not blind your judgement. Not every faunus is like the ones that are in the White Fang, and I can assure you that is especially true here at Beacon, or else they wouldn't be here in the first place."

"I know," She did know, if every faunus was in the White Fang, that would be like saying every human works for the SDC, and that clearly wasn't true. "But it's difficult to see anything other than the flag of the White Fang when I see a faunus. I'll try to get better about it, I have actually been trying to get better about it for a while, but… it's just difficult." She could still see the blood of her parents from that night.

Glynda waited a moment, contemplating on what she could possibly say next. She knew they still had to talk about the other things Olivia had said, but right now, seeing the state that the normally proud and stubborn knight was in, she believed she should take mercy on the girl, and save that for another time, maybe when she is more comfortable and willing to talk about her past as well. "Alright, then we can leave it at that if you want, and if so, then you may go now."

Olivia nodded, got out of her seat, and walked towards the door sluggishly. "And Ms. Doncieux," The blonde combat instructor called out to her just as she was in the doorway, and she turned to face her. "If you need to ever talk about it, just remember you can come to me, or any other professor."

The orange-haired girl nodded again. "Thank you." Was all she said, then she walked out, just wanting for this day to be over with.

Olivia walked out onto the roof later that day, around sunset actually, trying to get some cool air which always seemed to conciliate her without failure. She hadn't seen Silver since the incident after sparring class, and Koel and Marriott said they were going to go to the gym for a some practice, so she had spent most of the day after her talk with Professor Goodwitch alone, and she was fine with that, she was always able to function better when she was alone. But as she walked out, she found an interesting sight.

Silver was there, and she was sitting on the edge of the roof, with her back to her and facing away. Olivia quietly sighed, it seemed like she would have to go somewhere else to calm herself. She turned back around carefully so she didn't give away her presence to the faunus, that could only go over badly at this point-

"Oh, how I try~, to pick up what I leave behind~,"

Olivia froze as she heard Silver start to sing, something she didn't even know the faunus could do, and she suddenly got goosebumps at the words as they continued.

"The trail of lies~, that follows me all the time~,

"I've known all along~, the difference of right and wrong~,

The damage has been done, and I can't just rewind,

But I can try and try and try~, 'cause it makes me feel alive~,"

Olivia then felt a shiver go up her spine as the song seemed to have hit its chorus.

"And even though I say~, I'm sorry I'm this way~,

And even though I've changed~, people will stay the same~,

And even though I don't play~, I've become fair game~,

And if you're looking at me like I'm the cause of your live in hell~,"

Silver's voice dropped almost to a whisper as the chorus seemed to have hit its end.

"Well take a look at yourself~"

Silver stopped singing, and Olivia quickly got out of there and away. That song was… she didn't even know what to say about it. Silver's voice was so… melodic, and smooth, and it made the song that much better, the way she could change the tone of her voice while she sang made it all that much better, but the song itself, the lyrics, it seemed to be directed to _her_ in particular, which was easy to understand given how things have gone between the two of them so far, but they hit something deep in her, and made her think hard about everything going on. She knew that she shared a lot of the blame for their whole ordeal, she knew she had herself to look and point at for her attitude towards faunus, and that she really shouldn't just judge someone for their outward appearance, she _knew_ all of this, but ever since the White Fang took her parents from her, she had difficulty seeing anything other than a Grimm mask covering their faces.

But the weird thing about this was that she didn't feel this type of resentment for Koel, it seemed to only truly be Silver. Granted she still did feel highly uncomfortable around the black-haired faunus, but no where near as much as Silver, and it made her think deeper into this. Could she be… jealous?

Olivia quickly shook her head at the thought. What a ridiculous suggestion. However, the more she thought about it, the more logical it might actually be, why else would 90% of her resentment for faunus be directed straight at Silver, why would she say all she did, and why did she think of most of the stuff she said AFTER Silver was appointed leader? _'Oh gods, did I really want to be leader that much?'_

Olivia sighed, and cleared her head of it. She would think about this later, but right now, she needed to go find somewhere else to calm herself, possibly even until curfew hit. But one thing was for sure now, going to sleep tonight would be no easy task.

* * *

 **No this will NOT turn into a music fic, this is the only chapter I plan on having something like that for a long time, so don't worry. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed, and if you did, slap that like/follow button (not literally, but you know what I mean), and please leave a review, I love to hear what you guys have to say, and it makes me sad when there are no reviews :'(.**

 **Next chapter will actually switch (no Nintendo jokes please) over to Koel's and Marriott's side, and we'll see how they are faring with each other finally, 'cause the last couple chapter have barely had any mention at all of them. I'll talk to you guys then!**


	13. Dark red

**DISCLAIMER: Get off my back already, I don't own RWBY**

 **Hello again everybody, and welcome to a chapter that I am genuinely proud of to upload! This chapter is purely focusing on Koel's and Marriott's side of the team and the status of their own partnership, and I actually really like how it came out! :D**

 **Real quick though before we get to the story, there were a couple of questions I got this week from a guest that I'm going to answer right here, so Nemasis Demarini, if you are reading this, I'm answering your questions!**

 **First answer: in the author's notes a couple of chapters ago I put ZOMG in it, and that actually wasn't a mistake, I meant to do it, I did it as a reference to my favorite YouTuber who used to say that sometimes in his old videos, so yeah, it was totally on purpose, just as a reference.**

 **Second answer: my cover photo is Lucina from Fire Emblem: Awakening, so no, she obviously isn't a part of something in this story, and won't be a part of anything on my profile until I do some kind of Fire Emblem story, or maybe some crossover or something between FE:A and RWBY, which actually sounds like a pretty cool idea, but because I suck at originality, I have no idea how I would pull that off. But yeah, she's just my cover photo because I don't really have one yet for this story even though I really want to get one eventually, and also she's my favorite character in FE:A, Lucina is awesome!**

 **... ugh, that second answer was waaaaayyyyyy to long wasn't it? Well whatever, I hope I answered your questions good enough, so now, on with the story!**

* * *

"Come on partner, we're going to the gym!"

"B-but we've been training all week in the gym!"

While the SO half of team SMOK were dealing with some clearly serious issues, the MK half on the other end were doing pretty well with each other, and the dialogue above should paint a pretty intelligible picture of their typical verbal transactions since becoming acquainted with each other, and whether this was a good thing, you be the judge.

Things started a bit shakily between them because of Koel's reservedness, and Marriott's outgoing, and rather loud at times attitude, which annoyed Koel at first, but she knew Marriott meant well, and that she was just trying to be friendly, which she was succeeding at in almost every way, but Koel's naturally shy and timid personality didn't mix well, however she tried to deal with it, and she soon realized that not only was Marriott actually growing on her, Koel had noticed that she, herself, was talking more, less timid in public, and overall more comfortable, and she supposed she had Marriott to thank for that.

"Aren't you tired at all yet?" Koel was clearly fatigued.

"Haha, not at all! Why should I be?" And Marriott loved to tease her partner as well.

"What do you people do in Vacuo!?"

Marriott felt a little awkward at first when she was trying to get to know the raven-haired faunus, she didn't get a lot of response at first, but as time went by, she would gradually see small patches of changes in her quiet, farouche personality. Of course, it was even more difficult for her to get through to Silver and Olivia, those two had such problems that it was so needlessly onerous to communicate with them on a regular basis at the current point in time, but since she was Koel's partner, she had all the time in the world to befriend her, and it seemed Koel was willing to let it happen as well.

And being the warrior from Vacuo she is, someone who hardly had anything to do outside of just being some random person living there, she found the best way to get to know someone, and pass the time was excessive amounts of training!

No wonder her and Yang were fast friends.

"Marriott, I always thought I had good endurance, but you outclass me so easily that it's not even funny." Koel was still panting rather heavily.

Marriott chuckled. "Thanks, I obviously trained a lot when I lived in Vacuo."

Koel rolled her misty eyes. "Are you serious, I never knew." Her sarcasm caused the tall redhead to giggle as they continued with their training.

"And by the way, it is kinda funny how much I outclass your endurance by." Marriott remarked while still chuckling, and she received a lowly whispered "shut up" in return, which only caused her to laugh harder.

Koel always went along with Marriott, in all honesty, she wanted to know the redhead well, and build a strong partnership with her, she didn't want to be the one to always hide from everything and everyone, not like the part of her that inevitably told her to do so at first.

Marriott just wanted to show Koel that she could trust her, she learned early on that Koel was not very comfortable around humans (she still kinda tries to avoid Olivia, but at this time that is purely justifiable), and she also wanted to learn more about her.

Something she has actually learned about her that she wasn't entirely expecting is how Koel is so protective and supportive of Silver, and how often they were with each other. If Koel wasn't with her partner at some time, she could bet that the faunus was with her sister.

Marriott had all the respect to her for it as well, it reminded her of her own relationship with Maize, she would do anything to protect him, and she would be damned if something did happen, and she knew Koel took her own responsibility just as seriously.

"Alright, that's enough for today I think." Marriott said, not even breathing that heavily, or looking tired at all really. In truth, she actually could've gone a little longer, she was truly stopping for Koel's sake, and the faunus in question was currently sprawled out on the floor in an almost anatomical position, gasping and wheezing for breathe.

"H… how are you n-not t-tired?" Koel couldn't believe Marriott didn't seem fatigued at all, they have been going on for almost two hours without pause, just how long could this girl go on for?

Marriott chuckled at her fallen partner as she stretched her arms over her head. "I taught myself to go a few hours at a time. I could've actually gone another hour or so if I really wanted." She proudly stated with a sly smirk.

Koel's eyes widened in disbelief. "Are you serious!? What did you do to get such endurance?"

Marriott just shrugged as she continued to stretch. "I just trained a lot. There's not a lot to do in Vacuo, so training is how I spent most of my time, outside of my family of course."

The redheaded warrior stopped her stretching to lean down towards Koel with her hand extended, silently offering to help her up, which the faunus gratefully took. "It must be hard to live in Vacuo nowadays, considering it's been on a bit of an economic collapse huh?" Koel said as she was helped back onto her feet again.

Marriott nodded. "Yeah, it certainly wasn't easy, and I know it still isn't. When I say that the only thing I ever did other than train was be with my family, I say that a bit loosely. My dad had to take a bunch of small jobs after he lost his full-time job, and as for me… well, part of the reason I had to train a whole bunch was to enter tournaments around Vacuo. I probably entered on average around ten tournaments a month last year, and that's how I made money and provided for my family, so I traveled around more than I wanted to, and I wasn't quite around my dad and brother as much as I probably should've, but as long as it put food on the table at the end of the day, I had to do it."

Koel's ears flattened against her head a bit as she noticed Marriott's voice getting progressively lower and quieter as she went on, and her eyes were filling with sympathy for her partner. "I'm sorry Marriott, I… I don't know what else to say."

Marriott shook her head, and put on a smile. "It's okay, you don't need to say anything else, and you don't need to be sorry, it's just how we had to live our lives, and you know, we obviously survived, so everything's good, thank you for your concern though."

Koel smiled as well, and nodded. "Of course." She responded, and they started to make their way out of the gym, and back to the dorm.

Trust was something that obviously wasn't something easy to come by for Koel, especially if their was a human involved, ever since she was adopted by Silver's family she was told to be cautious around humans, and she took that seriously, probably even a little to much, but she heard and saw the stories of how faunus' were treated by them, and it made her some kind of paranoid around them, and it was no different when she met Marriott, someone who was bigger than her, and intimidating, she looked completely capable of living up to those stories she knew about, but she had been proven sooooo wrong at this point.

Marriott never showed any indication of ill-intention toward her or Silver, and she never saw any antipathy in her, just a warm, caring person no matter who she was. She knew there were humans like her of course, but all the things she's heard about how faunus' are treated in the kingdoms for the most part frightened her. The few that had inhabited Patch were actually pretty good when it came to treating fauna of any kind, so going to Vale in the first place was a bit scary, but being at Beacon, and being around more people than she had ever seen in her life was obviously daunting.

She knew she would have to face those people that see her as something subhuman and nothing else, and have no problem saying and expressing it, but Marriott quickly proved she wasn't someone like that.

What's ironic is that it took Koel facing one of those faunus haters, or more like an entire team of them, to truly realize this, and to fully know that she could trust her.

– One week earlier –

Koel had stayed behind to help Professor Goodwitch to help fix up the classroom after some students from another team did a bit TOO well sparring, but since Professor Goodwitch could just fix and replace with practically a flick of her wrist **(Or whatever that thing that she has in the first episodes of Volume's 1 and 2, if anyone wants to tell me, go ahead 'cause I can't thing of the name of it lol)** , Koel didn't really do much in the way of repairing, but rather just directing the combat instructor's attention to something else that was tossed aside.

As she was walking down the hall from Goodwitch's room, she passed by the doors to the cafeteria, and when she did, her ears perked up at the top of her head when she heard what sounded like someone running to the doors. She wrote it off as just someone who needed to get somewhere quickly, and just tried to ignore it and keep walking, but instead, the doors to the cafeteria slammed open. Koel jumped, and gave a startled "eep". She turned around, and was immediately met by someone who was just over a head taller than her, and there were three other boys behind him who she assumed to be the rest of his team, and they all had sickening smirks that gave Koel a foreboding feeling about this. "Uh, h-hello?" She said, starting to slowly back up to give herself a little room.

The four boys chuckled at her as they started to advance on her just as slowly. "Hi there kitten, my name's Cardin, what's yours?" There was something in his voice that told her that this was anything but a simple and polite introduction, and Koel didn't like it at all.

And she certainly didn't miss the way he said "kitten" with a type of mocking tone when it came out of his mouth.

' _Wait… his name is Cardin!?'_ She suddenly realized what he said his name is, and her eyes widened with this realization. She and Silver had been warned about someone named Cardin Winchester and his team by RWBY and JNPR, they said they were the major bullies of Beacon, mainly towards faunus. "Umm, my n-name is K-Koel." She responded hesitantly, still trying to put distance between her and the older team.

They chuckled again, still advancing. "Hehe, I think she knows about us Cardin." One of them said.

"Pfft, you think?" Cardin scoffed sarcastically. "Come on kitty, don't you want to hang with us for a bit?" There was obviously a clear amount of ill-intention emanating from him and his team, and it did not need to be elucidated to her that there was a discernible air of malign coming from all of them.

"Uhh, I-I can't, I h-have to get to my d-d-dorm." She stammered out pitifully, and she made the mistake of turning her back to them and trying to fast-walk away, but before she could get too far, she felt a rough pair of hands grab her by the shoulders _tightly_ , and she was practically thrown against a wall, and pinned by her arms flat against it.

"Forget about your dorm for a minute," Cardin said, his smirk widening into a practically pure evil smile, and his team followed suit as they looked down on her. "Let's have a little fun while we welcome you to Beacon our own way _cat._ "

Koel's eyes were as wide as saucers in fear, and she felt like how a normal cat feels when stuck in a tree, she had never been so scared in her life.

Marriott saw Koel walking by the cafeteria through the small square windows in the doors. _'Guess she's not hungry or something, am I the only part of the team that actually freaking eats here?'_ She thought as she finished eating, and she got up to throw away her tray **(RHYME!)** , but as she dropped it into the trash, she saw team CRDL, the same team they, mainly Silver and Koel, were warned about, running to the same door that her partner had just gone passed, and they barged through them, causing it to slam loudly against the wall of the hallway, and they disappeared as they went down the same way Koel was going.

Marriott suddenly got concerned, they were told by RWBY and JNPR that CRDL is a team full of faunus haters, and that they bullied on faunus students on almost a daily basis, they even said that Silver and Koel were extremely lucky they weren't targeted yet, but Marriott got a bad feeling that that streak of luck might've just came to an end.

She went over to the doors, and once she was almost to them, she heard a dull _bang_ from the hallway. Something snapped in her, and she rushed to the doors, bursting through them, ignoring the strange looks she received from others in the cafeteria, and she saw Koel pinned against the wall by the members of team CRDL, and they were grabbing and pulling at her cat ears while laughing sadistically at the pained grunts and whimpers coming from the young girl, unable to even move as she was planted flatly against the wall, rendered completely helpless.

Marriott clenched her fists and gritted her teeth as she watched, none of them even noticing she was there. She felt anger bubbling up inside her quickly as she witnessed her partner being abused like this, and stomped her way over to them. As she drew closer, she could see tears in the corners of Koel's eyes, and it only made the ire in her build further.

"HEY!" She shouted at the four boys, immediately catching their attention, and they turned their heads to face her with raised eyebrows. She glared at them so hard, you probably could've seen laser beams shooting from her sky blue eyes. "What do you think you're doing with my partner?" She "questioned" with a low, threatening voice.

Despite the steely edge that her voice held, the boys didn't seem phased by her presence, and just looked at each other before quietly chuckling at her, before looking back at her. "Why do you seem so upset, we're just welcoming her to Beacon, so don't be so mad." Cardin said ignorantly, completely disregarding the hostile mood radiating from the redhead, and they went back to pulling roughly on Koel's ears.

Marriott audibly growled, and she reached into her back pocket to take out the small rectangular, maroon tablet, pressing the button in the middle, and it transformed itself into Maroonmite, and when they didn't seem to notice, she reared back, and swung it, right next to where they were, and it dug into the wall. They jumped at the sudden action, Koel screaming a little, and they all looked back at her with wide eyes. Her glare intensified tenfold. "Let. Her. Go!" She ordered dangerously.

They continued to stare at her for a few slow seconds before Cardin's teammates looked at him for a decision, and he sighed exasperatedly. "Fiiiiine, fine, take your pet already." He said, grabbing Koel by her collar, and shoving her into Marriott. "Come on guys, we'll mess with them some other time." And with that, they walked off down the hall without another word.

Marriott watched them walk off, silently hoping they would turn back around and try her so she could show them what will happen if anybody messes with her partner again, but they didn't in the end, so she just sighed, and dislodged Maroonmite from the wall and returned it to its tablet form. She looked at Koel as she did so, and saw that she was shaking a little and massaging her surely sore ears with tiny whimpers still coming from her as she did so. "T-thank you Marriott." She said feebly as she continued gently rubbing her ears.

Marriott looked at her with sympathy as she put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Of course Koel, I'm sorry they did that to you. If they ever do this again I'll make sure they don't get away with it so smugly." She growled the last sentence out with a clenched fist.

"N-no, d-don't do that. You shouldn't get yourself in trouble just for my sake."

"Why not? I'm your partner, I'm supposed to help and protect you. Plus, I can't stand what some people do to faunus like you or Silver, so I'll gladly get myself in trouble to show people what will happen if they do anything to you two."

It was those words that were the big eye-opener for her. This human was willing to get herself in major trouble with the academy just for _her_? It was hard for Koel to truly fathom that, she was sure that while Cardin and his team were abusing her ears a minute ago that all humans might actually be the same, scurrilous and slanderous, but Marriott was such a different story, she was so caring for her, for _her_.

"Koel, you still with me here?" Marriott asked concernedly, snapping Koel out of her thoughts, and she looked at the redhead and nodded, hints of a smile on her face

"Yeah, thank you Marriott, this means a lot to me." She said sincerely.

Marriott smiled at her. "No problem, now what do you say we head back to the dorm huh?"

Koel nodded again, and they walked down the hall to their team's dorm, Koel finally feeling purely safe around someone that wasn't Alex or Silver, and it made her smile widen.

– Back to present time –

Koel recalled the event as she was laying in her bed alone while Marriott showered. She closed her eyes as she thought about the events of that day. She was scared out of her wits when team CRDL had pinned her against that wall in the hallway, and what scared her the most is that, what if it wasn't Marriott that went through the doors of the cafeteria, what if it was someone else, and what if that someone didn't actually do anything to help her, or worse, actually join in on their "fun", what could've escalated from that point, how far would they have taken their attack on her, and would anybody really care about it?

She realized just how lucky she is to have a partner like Marriott, someone who didn't see her as anything lower than her, even if she was practically a celebrity in Vacuo, while Koel was just some no-name faunus. She knew all the things Marriott could do to her if she was on the same side that CRDL is on, but she seemed to be very humbled and open-minded, she seemed to be that one person that wanted to help no matter who you were, and it warmed Koel's heart to know she got paired up with someone like her, because she knew that she could've been just as easily partnered with someone who could abuse and maltreat her on a regular basis.

"You okay there?" She heard the familiar voice of her redheaded partner ask, and she opened her eyes to see Marriott standing in front of her with her clothes back on and drying her long maroon hair with a towel.

Koel smiled, not a shy one, or a forced one, but a genuine happy smile. "Never better." She answered.

Marriott smiled just as brightly. "Good."

Even if they were practically complete opposites, that seemed to have made them the perfect partners somehow, and they planned to keep it that way for as long as they were at Beacon.

* * *

 **YEEEEEEEE, like I said, I really like how this chapter came out, and I hope you guys did too! If you did enjoy, leave a review, and if you feel so inclined to do so, fav/follow my story, and I'll talk to you guys next chapter!**


	14. Background

**DISCLAIMER: I can't think of anything clever to say here, so just accept me saying I don't own RWBY**

 **Yay, two chapters in the same weekend again, expect this to become a thing when I am on break for a couple weeks after this Wednesday when I actually DO get on break, I plan on uploading at least 2 chapters, if not 3 for the two weeks of break I'll have!**

 **This chapter once again focuses on Koel and Marriott's relationship, but it's also boring in my opinion, but you guys be the judges.**

* * *

It has already been established that Koel and Marriott have a pretty good friendship despite only knowing each other for a little over a month, which is mainly because of Koel's ever growing trust for the Vacuo native, and one of those reasons is for the fact that Marriott was so open with telling her about her past, despite how tough it seemed to be, but it also made Koel a little guilty because, while Marriott had told her many things about herself and her past, Koel has hardly told her ANYTHING about her own.

In her own defense though, she of course didn't have a single memory of anything previous to waking up in that adoption house when she was eight, but even then, she still DID have another eight years of her life she hadn't revealed at all to Marriott, and it made her feel bad about it. If Marriott was so open with her past, why can't she be?

Well, it's because Koel wasn't a very open person at all, unlike her redheaded partner, so naturally she wouldn't talk a lot about her own bad experiences, but Marriott had revealed herself to her, and trusted her with her own past, so Koel didn't really have an excuse.

Koel was laying on her bed, head on her pillow and legs crossed, while thinking about this, while Marriott was laying on her own bed while playing some game on her scroll, and her head was hanging upside down off the edge of the bed. Silver and Olivia were out of the room and only-the-gods-knew-where they actually were right now, and Koel felt like this was the best time to maybe open up and give her partner a little bit of background to herself.

"… hey Marriott?" She called the redhead's name, immediately catching her attention.

"Yo." Was all Marriott answered with, not glancing away from her scroll.

Koel looked over at her. "Since initiation, how much have you wondered about my past?

Marriott paused for a second before turning off her scroll to return Koel's look. "Uhm, well I've thought about it, if that's what you mean. Why?"

Koel looked down for a quick second before returning her misty gray eyes to Marriott's sky blue ones. "I've just been thinking about all that you've told me about yourself, and I just feel a little… guilty I guess for not telling you anything about myself."

Marriott shot up, and sat straight up, directly facing Koel now with curious eyes. "As much as I would like to know, you don't have to tell me anything, it's not like being curious is going to kill me. Besides, didn't you say you didn't remember anything?"

"Yes, but I don't mean that part of my past, I mean after I was adopted."

Marriott's eyes widened slightly at this. "But you said it would be better if Silver explained it."

Koel looked away again, but did not look back this time. "Yeah, well… that was actually a bit of a lie so I didn't need to explain it then," she said guiltily. "Plus, it's not like you'll be getting much out of Silver, considering how things are going right now."

Marriott nodded in agreement, it was true that their leader wasn't exactly around them very much right now, always claiming she needed to "blow off some steam", but in truth, they thought she was really just avoiding them so she didn't need to talk about what's been going on between her and Olivia, or rather, what hasn't, and the same went for the typically dour knight.

"I guess so, but still, you don't have to tell me anything that isn't comfortable to say. I didn't tell you about what's happened to me so you could tell me about yourself, I just did so you could know in case you wanted to know. Like I said, it won't kill me if I don't know." Marriott reassured, not wanting her partner to feel like she was forced into something.

Koel shook her head and chuckled, this girl might be a little _too_ caring. "Marriott, you've given me so much of you, I feel like it's only fair, I don't want to be the enigma of the team."

Marriott stared at her for a few seconds before responding. "You're sure?"

Koel nodded. "Yes I am. You deserve to know."

"And you're not just doing this because you feel like you need too?"

Koel nodded again. "Like I said, you deserve to know."

Marriott was silent again for a few more seconds, but then nodded. "Alright, if you say so. But if you need to stop, do so, I won't hound you for any information."

Koel giggled again. "Always the ever-caring person Marriott. Alright, here we go." Koel took a deep breath as Marriott looked at her inquisitively, patiently waiting for her to start.

"I was adopted about half a year after I woke up in the adoption house by Silver's parents, her father's name was Nav, and her mother's was Sia. They were on a mission, or coming back from one rather, and they just decided to stop by or whatever, and they… well, just picked me up or something. It was a little awkward at first, I didn't really know why I went with them, or why they even brought me with them, but they were nice at least. Me and Silver quickly got along, and the same went with me and Alexandrite, who was going to Signal Academy at the time, but they were very accepting, and it didn't take long for me to really feel comfortable, they treated me like real family, and since I couldn't recall anything about my previous family, it felt good."

Koel closed her eyes. "But after a little over a year, it all started going gradually down hill. Both Nav and Sia were professional hunters, and both Alexandrite and Silver were training to become ones, and they were even starting to get me interested in doing so. One day, Sia went on a mission to Atlas to do who-knows-what, honestly I never knew what she was supposed to do there, but the point is is that she never… came back from it, and nobody bothered explaining why."

Marriott's eyes widened slightly at this, but didn't say anything, and just listened. "It was only said as a rumor that she was killed by Grimm, but nobody gave us a definitive answer. It was difficult when this happened, and we were all really broken over this, including me, even though I only knew her for about a year, but that didn't matter, what did was that she was like a mother to me, a _real_ one, especially considering I didn't even KNOW if I had a real one, and still don't. Alex kept going on with her training though, saying that she needed to avenge our mother's death, whatever it was, and become what she had been training to become what Sia wanted her to be."

"Me and Silver on the other hand were scared after that, we got interested in being huntresses in the first place because we thought it was cool, and that nothing ever bad happened, ya know, typical little kid logic, nothing bad ever happens to the good guys in the stories, but when mom died, it was a wake up call to us that life wasn't a story, and not a fairy tale, and that the good guys lose sometimes. And then there was our dad, who obviously was broken up about it, but he never gave up on being a hunter, and he still went on missions, but he did spend much more time with us then going on them."

"When me and Silver were eleven and ten, Alex got accepted to Beacon, and that is what got us interested in becoming huntresses again, we had heard Beacon was the top academy for a hunter-in-training to go to, or so dad had told us. But after a year of Alex being there, dad went on a mission of his own and had one of his friends from his time at Beacon take care of us, and as you could probably guess, he never returned either. But this time, we were actually told that it was someone from the White Fang after they had started changing, so at least we knew what had happened, but that still didn't do much to lessen the impact of it."

Marriott could hear the faunus' voice cracking ever so slightly, and she couldn't imagine what it had felt like to lose BOTH of your parents in the same way. Even though she had lost her mother, at least she still had her father, and to her current knowledge, her mother was still alive somewhere.

Koel took another deep breath before continuing. "Alex came back for about a month to take care of us after this, and it was especially hard for us now because we knew she had to leave again eventually, and we didn't have anyone to take care of us until Alex graduated, but before she left for Beacon again, she reached out to our dad's old teammate, the same one that looked after us when the news of dad's death was given to us, and he accepted."

"You would think that after losing both of our parents would've shoved us completely away from the idea of wanting to be huntresses just like how mom's death almost did, but this time, it actually did the very opposite. Our dad was very set on the idea of us following in his footsteps, and pretty much everyone else in the family, Silver and Alex had come from a long line of hunters, so it was only natural he wanted us to keep that going, so we decided to go at it harder so we could get into Beacon one day, that was our ultimate goal, and things after that would just happen however they would."

Koel sighed. "There's not much more to say now, Alex graduated without another incident really, but she did kinda put a bit of pressure on me and Silver, she graduated from Beacon as one of the best to ever come out of here, or so we've been told, so me we had a lot to live up to, but we were also more than willing to prove those expectations right. Although to this point, I'd say Silver had done a better job at that." She finished with a chuckle.

Marriott had listened to every single word with undivided attention, and she felt bad for Koel and Silver, but now their undying determination to become huntresses was now explained. But she still felt bad for them, to lose BOTH of your parents when they were doing what you were wanting oh-so-badly to become must've been terrible, then to have an older sister do the same as they were could have been just as frightening, considering they always had the chance of losing their older sister as well, and to the same thing no less. "That must have been hard to live through." Was all Marriott could think of to say.

Koel shrugged and looked down to the bed with her hands in her lap. "It was, but everybody goes through tough times, right? We just have to deal with them in our own way, and this is just how me and Silver do it, by being what our parents wanted us to be."

Marriott smiled at those words, Koel and Silver really were respectable people to say the least if you just gave them time, now if only Olivia could learn that. "I guess." Marriott then thought of a question, but held off on asking it to consider if she really should or not, afraid that she might upset or sadden the raven-haired faunus, but decided to throw caution to the wind, and ask it. "Do you want to learn about your past, before you were adopted I mean? I know you told me during initiation that you didn't know if you really did or not, but is that really true?"

She saw Koel falter slightly at the question. "Well… yes, and no. There are parts of me that are incredibly curious to know, but other parts of me tell me that it is best left unknown, and truly, I'm not sure which parts to follow. All the scars I have are obvious reasons to feel both ways, to want to get to the bottom of it, and find out how exactly I had gotten them, but then to also want to leave it alone, that it's one of those mysteries better left unsolved, but I really don't know what to listen too."

Marriott nodded in understanding, she would probably feel the same way if she were in Koel's position. But she wasn't, so the best she could do is just support her with whatever side she decided to follow.

Something that wasn't going to be tough for her to do, she could assure you. "Well whatever you decide to do, I'll be here to support you no matter what."

Koel smiled at her. "And that might get you in trouble one day." She replied with a giggle, earning one from Marriott as well. "But thank you, it means a lot to have someone like you to always here for me. I promise I will do the same for you."

Marriott smiled as well, she had an amazing partner, and she was set on making sure she was too.

Now if only the other half of the team was this easy, but she had a feeling that would not be the case for a while.

* * *

 **And that's that, once again, this is a really boring chapter I think, so I apologize if it really is, but then again, you gotta have these little filler chapters of sorts to really learn to care about the characters in the end, so, I hope this is efficient in doing so.**

 **Next chapter will go back over to Silver and Olivia, so yay, more drama! Favorite, follow and review please if you like the story, and I'll talk to you guys next chapter!**


	15. I'm done with this

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own RWBY in the slightest, only the custom characters in this story, and the drama that ensues**

 **I'm curious to know how many of you freaked out with this chapter name, if at all.**

 **IT'S OFFICIALLY WINTER BREAK, YYYYEEEESSSSS! Today was my first official day of winter break, and I have 10 days to upload as many chapters of this as I can, which I am excited for, believe me, and I hope you guys are too! You could probably guess what this chapter is about and who we're mainly focusing on, especially if you read the last author's notes at the end of the last chapter, so I hope that's okay with you all.**

 **Real quick though, I actually have another thing to reply to from Nemasis Demarini, because since they are a guest, I have to reply to what they say here. When I read what you said (RHYME!), I was like "... whoa :O", because I am probably as far from a celebrity on here as you could get, so please do not put in the same boat as people like that, because I honestly don't want to sink in it. But seriously though, I am always willing to reply to whatever you or anybody has to say no matter what it is, whether it's constructive criticism on my style, or about my story, or just something about me in general, I will always try to find time to reply, because I feel like if you actually take the time to read what I write, you deserve a reply to what you have to say, and I wish more people around here nowadays, or really anywhere for that matter, would feel the same way.**

 **Just wanted to get that out of the way, and also, let me tell you guys something that is really exciting for me; as of this chapter going up, we are officially over HALFWAY done with this particular story! YAAAYYYYY!**

 **Anyway, I hope that gets you guys excited for what i have setup for this story as we go into the second half of it, because believe me, the best of this story is yet to come. Anyway, enough getting ahead of ourselves, on with the words!**

* * *

While things had been going swimmingly for Koel and Marriott, Silver and Olivia were the very freaking opposite, but what else did you expect?

However, Silver did start trying to get on Olivia's good side, after having a quick talk with Koel about it. " _You should try to show her who you really are. I know that's cliche, but it also what works, if she knows and sees who you are, then maybe she'll do the same. How do you think Marriott and I have gotten along so well?"_ She recalled her advice, and she had tried, oh she had tried, she tried inviting her to training sessions, walks around Beacon, or just going out to Vale, she had really tried to build some kind of chemistry between them, but all she would get in response would be a weird, almost suspicious look, like Olivia thought she was planning something, or a quick "no", and not much else, and Silver had no idea of what to do anymore.

Silver thought it was strictly because of who, or rather WHAT she is, but in truth, Olivia didn't know what to do either. She knew what she SHOULD do, and that was to give her partner the time of day for her, but everytime she would herself to play nice, however, whenever she would try, whenever she would hear that voice, and see those damned cat ears, she would flashback to that night, seeing a Grimm mask over the face of the faunus, a gun in its hand, and flames surrounding the area for as far as far as she could see.

So yeah, it was kind of for who and what Silver was, but of course if Olivia wasn't going to say anything about it, she couldn't know for sure, or why, and not knowing something like this frustrated her, between her responsibility as leader, the stagnate relationship between her and Olivia, and the challenge of keeping up with everything in class while being a full year under the normal minimum, it just felt like Silver's anger was ever growing from all angles.

But there was also maybe another aspect that she hadn't thought of, and one that Olivia hadn't considered either until the night she found Silver singing on the rooftop, and that's the possibility that maybe Olivia was actually jealous, as immature as it is (she knew it was), it was still very realistic.

Olivia was someone who grew up in a society where she was taught to keep away from faunus', then her parents were killed, and since then she had done her best to keep a fair distance between her and any faunus she could come in contact with, so the fact that a faunus was chosen leader of her team made her feel strange to say the least, especially when said leader is her partner.

Being where she is now, Olivia has to go against everything she was taught by her parents and everything she told herself to do after they were gone, and she has to all at the same time no less, so it was just confusing for her. She was a creature of habit, so going against everything she was taught and told from almost the very beginning was going to make breaking these 'habits' of hers very difficult, and it was all very bemusing for her.

But she never bothered to say any of this, not to Silver, or Koel, or even Marriott, so how was anybody, especially Silver supposed to know this? They couldn't, and it made communicating with her so needlessly complicated and arduous, not to mention annoying.

At first, this was interfering with Silver's ability to communicate with Marriott and Koel because she was so caught up in her crossness with Olivia to really think about much else, but since she had tried to get Olivia to open up a little, she had started to, or at least try, talk with the other two a bit more, mainly because she had to talk to somebody since her own freaking partner won't say a word to her, she couldn't even remember the last time she heard a word come out of Olivia's mouth.

' _Oh, right.'_ Scratch that, she did remember, it was when they got in that little fight in the hallway before Professor Goodwitch came and interrupted them before things got really ugly. Oh, how she so wanted to forget that, but probably never would, at least not for a long while.

Silver found herself constantly wondering what she could do to get the orange-haired girl to just realize that she was trying to make amends and leave what had already happened between them behind, but how was she supposed to do this when not a single word will be said? She was starting to run out of ideas on how to get Olivia to just consider her, and frankly, she was starting to get tired of it all.

So much so that if this next time didn't work, it would probably be time to find something else to waste her time on.

* * *

Olivia had been walking around the halls since classes had ended this day with no real destination in mind, she just felt like quietly walking around to clear her head of everything, and everything meant the situation that she had with her young partner, and she started making a habit of this for the past couple of weeks, after classes she would just go walk around aimlessly in the halls, or around the courtyards, or whatever other places she could find so she could try to clear the maelstrom that was her mind, and she created this habit kind of unintentionally and without telling her teammates, so to them, she would just sort of disappear after classes, which certainly didn't help anything for them.

She checked her scroll to see what time it was and realized that she had been wandering around for around 45 minutes, and she figured she might as well just go back to their dorm. She made her way back there, she actually wasn't to far from the dorm when she checked the time, and as she used her scroll to unlock the door and walk in, she found that no one was in the room… except for Silver, who was currently laying on her bed with her headphones on and listening to music.

' _Oooofff course she's here, why wouldn't she be?'_ Just as her luck would have it.

She quietly walked inside the dorm, not really sure if she was trying to not alert the faunus of her presence or what, but if she was, it was a foolish attempt, because after all, since Silver was a cat faunus, she had those cat ears at the top of her head that could allow her to hear so much better than Olivia, so why did she even try?

She walked over to the bathroom, but she heard Silver shuffle around on her bed. "Olivia," she then heard her name called, and she froze in her tracks. "Um, do you want to do something together later today?" There she went, offering to do something, anything again, and Olivia didn't know what to say or how to answer again.

Silver found this as the best opportunity to get something out of Olivia since Marriott and Koel were in the gym training… again. "Koel and Marriott will probably be in the gym all day knowing them, or I guess knowing Marriott more so, so, do you want to go out into Vale or something, or-"

"Silver, stop," Olivia cut her off before she could continue, not even looking back at her. "I don't want to do anything today, alright?" She didn't mean to sound as cold as she did, but it seemed that was another habit she had unintentionally created since starting here, and she could practically feel the disappointment coming from the pale-haired girl.

Everything became silent for a few seconds before Olivia heard Silver practically jump from her bed. "You know what?" She said with her voice raised. "I'm done with this this." The statement made Olivia furrow her eyebrows questioningly as she glanced at the faunus out of the corner of her eyes.

Silver was fuming from the constant rejections, but for some reason hearing the rejection come straight from Olivia's mouth made her even more angry than not getting a response, and it tipped her over the edge. "I'm done trying to be friendly to you. I have tried, and tried, and TRIED for the past couple weeks to get some communication between us, I have tried to finally make something positive out of this, and I thought I was doing a pretty good job at showing you I could be a nice person, but apparently, all I was doing a good job at was wasting my breath." Her voice got lower and quieter as she went on, and it surprised Olivia to see Silver like this, this was not the typical anger she had seen from Silver, she had seen the annoyed anger, the anger that would come out when she would lose her temper, but this was not either of those, this was something different, but Olivia couldn't quite say what it was.

Silver weakly glared at her, and Olivia met that glare, and she found what that other word was… sadness? "So I am done with this, it will be YOUR responsibility to salvage anything out of whatever this is, because I'm done wasting my breath, my time, and my sanity on it." Silver looked down to the floor. "But I guess that's what you really wanted from the start huh?" She spoke in a quiet voice, almost a whisper, and she then made a quick break for the door, and walked out into the hall without another word, or another glance at Olivia, leaving the door open.

Olivia stood motionless for a few seconds before everything that had just happened triggered in her mind. "Silver, wait!" She half-shouted, and made her way to the door and walked out into the hallway, but found no Silver either way she looked, she was gone.

Olivia sighed, and walked back into the dorm, seeing no point in trying to find Silver, she knew it was best for her to be alone now, and if anyone was going to violate that, Olivia knew she was that last person Silver wanted to do that was her.

* * *

Silver stomped her way out into one of the courtyards. She couldn't believe this, she was trying so hard to finally start building their partnership to what Koel's and Marriott's was, but clearly Olivia was not willing to let that happen, and this made Silver feel all kinds of negative ways, she was annoyed, she was angry, she was indignant, she was…

… she was hurt.

She plopped down onto one of the benches in the courtyard, clenching her fists and closing her eyes tightly as she tried to control herself, but ultimately failed to do so, and in a few seconds, the angry tears she had held back for weeks finally started to fall.

* * *

Olivia went over to her bed and fell down onto it and stared up at the ceiling. What a mess this was, and it was all her fault, although she was actually surprised it took this long for Silver to break on her, but nothing could've prepared her for what it would look like, until now, she had not seen that look of sadness and dejection in her face, and heard it in her voice, it was almost hard to believe it was all coming from Silver, but of course why should she think that if SHE was the cause of it?

She didn't mean for it to be this way, but everything that she was taught, everything she was shown, and everything she had went through blinded her, and gave her an unjustified cold and apathetic persona, and she didn't know how to change it, but it was now as good a time as any to finally try to find a way.

' _She DID say it will be MY responsibility now,'_ she thought. _'So I guess I better start to think of something before things get even worse somehow.'_ She then thought of a way to show herself to her team, something she hadn't done since she found she could really trust Kayla back at the foster home. _'I should finally tell them about myself and what's happened, maybe then everything will get out of neutral here.'_

She had only told Kayla about her past, but if anything positive was going to happen now, this would be the only thing right now that could finally get things moving forward, at least things would be elucidated for her teammates as to why she is this way. _'I'll tell them tonight.'_ She thought to herself, determined to show her teammates, and especially her partner, that she was more than just some cold, near heartless person she had probably made herself out to be.

* * *

 **I'm pretty sure I don't need to tell you guys what is gonna happen next chapter, it's going to be pretty similar to chapter 13, so yeah, I hope that will be okay, and if it's not, well to bad because that's what's gonna happen anyway, see you guys then!**


	16. Patchwork

**DISCLAIMER: I'm tired as hell... oh, and I don't own RWBY**

 **Sooooonnnnnn ooooofffffff aaaaaaa biiittttcccchhhhh it is 2:10 in the morning, and I am as the disclaimer states! But whatever, I hope you guys had a very merry Christmas, and I hope you guys got some awesome gifts, I know I did, and I also hope this chapter will count as a sort of late present or something... whatever.**

 **Real quick here, I want to give a huge thanks to Nemasis Demarini, I know I've been replying to their reviews and stuff for the past couple of chapters, but if you're reading this, I want to thank you for your words last time, especially about that little line mistake because I wouldn't have realized it otherwise, but thank you for your kind words, they warmed my heart for sure, and even though I did indeed say not to put in the same boat as a celebrity, because I know I am far from that title for most people I'm sure, it still flatters me greatly to know someone thinks of me so highly, to be honest, I never really had anybody to that in my life, so it feels pretty amazing to be honest, and of course thank your support of this story, because that above all else is what makes me the happiest, and makes me want to continue rationing out these chapters!**

 **Now with that out of the way, enjoy the chapter, one that is a little more lighthearted than the past couple, and one I am proud of!**

* * *

"C… can we… s-stop now?" Whined a slightly high and panting feminine voice.

"Hahah, sure, whatever." Answered another, slightly deeper voice with a laugh. "I guess you have something against getting stronger or something." Marriott teased her partner.

Koel turned her head to Marriott while she laid flat on her back. "And you have something against anything that isn't training." Koel shot back, but couldn't keep a smile from coming to her face.

Marriott, who was doing a few quick jabs while her faunus partner said this, stopped and laughed some more. "Yeah, makes sense." Koel then outstretched her hand out to her, and Marriott took it, and pulled her back up to her feet.

"Thank you." Just as those words left Koel's mouth, they both got a message on their scrolls. They pulled them out to find that the message was from the little group chat they made for their team, more specifically it was Olivia of all people that sent out the message.

" _Can you all come to the dorm, I've got something I need to tell you about."_ The message said.

This was a confusing development, Olivia almost NEVER spoke to them, both in the chat, or in person, so the fact that she had something to talk about was both confusing, but also intriguing to them. Koel and Marriott exchanged confused expressions, then Marriott took the initiative to type back a question they both had.

" _Why, what is it all about?"_

They waited a few seconds before another message was sent and displayed, again by Olivia.

" _I'll tell you about it when you get to the dorm."_ That's all it said.

They once again exchanged glances before Marriott sighed and shut off her scroll. "Well, if it's Olivia who needs to talk about something, it must be something important, so we might as well get going." Koel nodded, and they started to make their way out of the gym.

"What do you think this is about?" Koel asked as they walked down the hallway. "I mean, this is Olivia, what could she possibly have to tell us, all of us for that matter."

Marriott hummed as she shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not sure, do you think it might have something to do with Silver?" The redheaded warrior asked back.

Koel rolled her eyes as she recalled the "problems" her sister has had with Olivia. "I hope so, but at the same time, I kind of don't." She answered, and Marriott nodded in understanding, for all they knew, the two of them got into another fight and were going to be suspended or something, but they won't know until they hear from Olivia herself.

* * *

It was a few minutes after Silver had gotten the message on her scroll from Olivia telling her and the other two members of their team to go to the dorm room because she had something to talk about, and Silver was not amused by this. First of all, Olivia was obviously the last person she wanted to see right now, she would rather find and chat with someone from the White Fang than even catch a glimpse of her burnt orange hair, and second, the fact that this was right after what had just happened between them didn't sit well with her. What if Olivia was going to find some way to blame _her_ for everything, or she wanted to leave the team or something, it all just made Silver worried about what exactly Olivia wanted to "talk about".

' _Wait, why do I care if she would want to leave the team, if anything that might actually be a good thing.'_ She thought bitterly, and maybe that was a little harsh, but then again, if Olivia was going to shun her and decline her an any way possible, and any way she saw fit, then why should Silver care about what she decides to do? _'Still, if I don't end up going to the dorm on my own, I know that at least Koel will end up looking for me and dragging me there. Might as well get this over with.'_ She brought her head back up from its previous position of resting in her hands, and watched as some other students walked about the courtyard, talking with each other carelessly with smiles on their faces, and it made her a little jealous. Why couldn't her and Olivia get along that easily? _'I swear, compared to Koel and Marriott, me and Olivia are practically mortal enemies.'_

She gave a shaky sigh, and brought herself up from the bench, but as she was just about to, she was stopped by a semi-loud shout behind her. "Hey Silver!"

Silver winced a little bit at the ensuing ringing in her cat ears from the shout as they folded a little onto her head, and turned her head to the side to see Ren and Nora from team JNPR approaching her, Ren just nodding and waving at her and having his normal neutral expression, while his short and perky ginger of a partner practically bounced along side him with her own natural smile. Silver offered them a halfhearted smile as she returned the greeting. "Hello Ren, Nora. How are you two?"

Nora's ever lasting smile did not falter at all. "We're doing great! Aren't we Ren?"

Ren's expression didn't change in the slightest as he replied in a much calmer and quieter tone. "I guess you could call it that. How are you Silver?"

Silver's smile fell from her face without much resistance. "To tell you the truth, I could be doing better."

Nora's expression then changed to one of pure curiosity. "Oh, why?" She then looked around the area. "Actually, where's the rest of your team, or are you just out here by yourself?"

Silver let her gaze fall to the ground. "That's kind of the problem. Can I ask you two something?" They both nodded their heads, of course Nora's being more avid then Ren's. "What was it like when you two first became partners? What did it take for you two to get used to each other?"

They seemed a little confused at this question, probably because they didn't know why she needed to ask this, but soon after, Nora started giggling in her normal, bubbly way. "Actually, we didn't need to do anything."

It was now Silver's turn to look confused, that didn't exactly tell her much, but Ren soon picked up where Nora left off, feeling it was his responsibility to elaborate. "Me and Nora were childhood friends, so we obviously didn't really need to do anything in the way of getting used to each other."

Silver sighed, this didn't help her at all. "Of course you didn't. Well unfortunately, me and Olivia have not had it that easy, in fact, it's been the exact opposite."

"How so?" Ren asked, his curiosity on the matter seeming piqued. "It was obvious you two were not getting along with one another to say the least, but what's happening now?"

"What's happening is the fact that no matter how many times I try to act like the bigger person, she won't give me any time of the day." Silver groaned out. "I have tried for the past couple weeks or so to try and patch things up between us, but she just won't seem to allow it for some reason, and now I'm not sure what to do now."

Nora then laid her chin in her hand as she looked as though she was trying to think of something. "I know," she suddenly burst out. "We'll break her legs!"

Silver was taken aback by this, did she really hear this girl right when she said… whatever she said? _'I swear, this girl has a screw loose… or maybe a few… or all of them.'_

Ren on the other hand just sighed and facepalmed. "Nora… no." He said in a deadpan. It seemed he really was used to this from his partner.

Silver looked at the ginger with an eyebrow raised. "Is that your answer to everything or something?"

"It's the only answer to everything!" She practically shouted with a fist-pump. Silver shook her head in amusement at Nora's shenanigans, and a light giggle found its way out of her, the first time she really laughed in any way in a while for sure, and Nora all but cheered in what almost seemed to be triumph. "See Ren, I told you I could cheer anybody up!"

Ren gave a chuckle of his own at her. "I never doubted you abilities to do so Nora, I've never had a reason too." He then returned his attention to the onyx-tipped faunus. "Anyway, what are you going to do now?"

Silver ceased her giggling, and sighed. "Well, I got a message from Olivia of all people to go to the dorm because apparently she suddenly has something she wants to talk about with the rest of the team, so I was just about to go, not very enthusiastically mind you."

Ren nodded. "Then you might as well hear her out. She might actually try to justify herself," He suggested. "Or she might want to apologize, or something."

"I can only hope so." Silver replied.

"Well, we gotta go," Nora said. "See ya later Silver, good luck!" She said with a wave as they walked by the cat-faunus.

Silver waved back, offering a small smile. "Bye, and thank you." She then turned around, and started on her own way to the dorm, sighing once more. "Let's just get this over with." She whispered to herself.

* * *

"Did Silver text back yet?" Marriott asked Koel as they waited on said leader. Koel and Marriott had arrived at the dorm a couple of minutes ago, and they immediately found Olivia sitting on her bed staring off into basically nowhere, seeming to be in deep though about something, but they could see a disconsolate look in her eyes, and when they had asked her what was going on, she just said that she would explain once Silver got to the dorm.

Koel looked at her redheaded partner as she answered. "Yeah, she said she ran into Nora and Ren on the way, she should be here in a minute."

Marriott nodded. "Well, since we're obviously not going to be taking a shower until we hear what Olivia has to say, might as well dry off a little at least." She then made her way into the bathroom to retrieve a couple of towels for them with the intention to at least dry off some of the sweat from their training.

"That's kinda gross, we do have other clean towels then, right?" Koel asked.

"Hopefully!" Marriott responded, making Koel roll her eyes and snicker in gaiety, while Olivia didn't have any reaction to their lighthearted interaction.

Just as Marriott went into the bathroom, they heard the door open, and Silver entering the dorm, and an immediate scowl came to her face once she saw Olivia, who didn't even bother to look at her, still seeming to be lost in her own world. Silver then looked at her sister, who was currently leaning on the doorway of the bathroom "So what's going on?"

Koel shrugged. "That's up to Olivia." They then heard Marriott call Koel's name from the bathroom, and when she looked into the open door of the bathroom, out came a towel, landing directly on Koel's head, and blocking her eyesight, and she yelped when it landed on her. "Marriott!" She whined as she took it from her head.

Marriott came out of the bathroom, giggling merrily while she already started drying herself off a little. "Sorry, that was just too good to pass up." To which she was met with a pout from her faunus partner. They then turned their attention to Olivia, who was currently shifting uncomfortably on her bed. "Well, Silver's here now, so what do you have to tell us?" She asked, quickly changing her mood back to a more serious one.

Olivia then slowly, almost hesitantly, turned to face them, but still avoided looking straight at them, resorting to staring down to the floor, and sighed as she begun. "I know what I've been doing to this team so far, and in such a short amount of time, and I'm sorry." She heard Silver scoff at this, but she continued on. "Let me explain myself please, what I'm going to tell you is… well, it's not really a long story, but it's definitely not a short one either, so bear with me."

"What exactly are we bearing with?" Marriott asked with a raised brow.

Olivia sighed. "I am aware of the fact that I have hardly even said anything, especially about my past or anything of the like. Well, I'm going to change that." She looked up at them for the first time so far, and they all had expressions of patience, even Silver, knowing this was probably not going to be something that would be pleasant for her to go over.

Olivia took a deep breath, these were some dark memories she was about to go down, and ones that she never felt very entitled to reveal, but for the sake of her team, she would have to if she wanted to redeem herself, and fix things.

"I was born and raised in Vale," she began. "And me and my parents never moved away, Vale is all I know of the world basically, but my parents were never the richest of people, they weren't really poor, but not wealthy by any means, but they made enough for us to live happy lives for the most part, even if all we ever could afford was just some low-to-middle-class apartment in a really packed apartment complex."

"I grew up an only child, my parents always said that they only wanted me in their lives, that they didn't need another child, and that I was enough for them, and it made me happy to hear them say this, it made me feel like I really had a place hear. I started training to become a huntress when I was around nine or so, and my parents were not very open to the idea of me going out to kill monsters for a living to say the least, they said they wanted me to live as long of a life as I could, and that being a huntress was not the way to do so, but I would always read these stories, whether it was a child's book, or a news article about hunters everywhere, and how they help people in need, and everything, and all those stories made me want to do everything they did, and be someone important in the world at the same time, like I had a say in what happens, and even though my parents indeed were not open to this idea, they supported me, saying that whatever I wanted to do, they would always be there to help and support me in any way they could, for as long as they could."

She took another deep breath, this part is where it gets difficult. "But one day, when I was ten, the White Fang went on a huge spree of break-ins, robberies, and riots, and all at the same time it seemed, it was all happening so fast that it seemed like nobody could really get control of it, and one of the places they raided… was my apartment complex." She looked up again, she hadn't even realized she was looking down at her bedsheets, and she saw all three in front of her with almost anxious type looks on there faces.

"The complex had about five stories to it, my parents' apartment was on the third, and I remember someone shouting that a fire was starting on the first floor, apparently one of the White Fang threw a cigarette or something into a trash can with a bunch of paper in it, and it just spread from there, so we didn't really have much of a place to go, it was either further up, and corner ourselves more, or go down and face them, AND the spreading fire all at the same time, and at once no less. My parents decided on the latter, stating that going up would not do any good since it would just be delaying, which in hindsight, probably was actually the best idea because then maybe in the time the White Fang would take to get to us, someone could've chased them down, and doused the fire, but still, what would the odds have been for either of those?"

"We got down to the second floor, and we suddenly heard a bunch of gunshots going off, it seemed a lot of the people that lived in the complex were trying to stand up to the White Fang, after all what could they possibly gain by raiding a place like ours, a place with more poor than wealthy, and not a lot of things to steal, so they were trying to shoo them off, and protect what they DID have, but obviously that didn't work. By this point, the fire had already started to spread into the second floor, we could see the flames start to amount more and more around us, and we were quickly trapping ourselves, and before long, before we even got to the first floor, a White Fang guy came up to us from on the staircases, and he had a gun of course. He gave us the stereotypical "give me your stuff, or die" thing, and of course my parents shoved me behind them. My parents said that we didn't have anything to give up, and that he could kill them if it satisfied them, and he didn't even give them a second thought. He said "with pleasure", or something like that, and just… shot."

Her voice audibly cracked on the last word.

"He looked down at me, and I'm sure he would've shot me too, but the other White Fang that were there dragged him away, saying that I wasn't worth there time, and they just left me there, sitting between my parents that they had just… killed." She shut her eyes, and clenched her hands tightly, she could feel the burning tears behind her eyes, but she kept on regardless. "Eventually, a team of hunters showed up, and drove the White Fang away, and tried to get all the survivors out as well, but there weren't many of them, nor were there many things to salvage, the White Fang just… destroyed it all."

"So that's why." Silver mumbled to herself, the reasoning behind Olivia's behavior around her now clear.

Olivia opened her eyes to look at them again. "Silver, Koel, this doesn't just go for you two, it goes for every faunus I have ever met since then, which admittedly aren't many, but whenever I see a faunus, it's exceptionally hard for me to see anything but a mask over there faces, and a gun in there hand, I can't help it, not after that day. After that day, they threw me into a foster home, one that supported segregation in fact, so one half was faunus, and the other half was humans, and we were almost never allowed to be together, which is why I met very few faunus' after that day, in fact, I never really interacted with anybody in the foster home, the only one I really was ever around was my foster sister Kayla, but she was really it. There's not really much more to say, I grew up the rest of my way in the foster home, continued my training, and here I am now I guess."

"Now I get it," Marriott said after a moment of silence. "I understand how that can have such an impact on somebody, even if I never went through that, it is really self-explanatory I guess." She then looked at the normally dour and stoic swordswoman with sympathy. "I'm sorry you had to go through that. To live so happily and so simply, then for it to just get ripped away so quickly is… terrible."

Koel nodded in agreement, looking at the orange-haired girl with the same expression. "Yeah, I guess your uneasiness around me and Silver is justified, I would feel the same way if that ever happened to me too, that's for sure."

Silver didn't know what to say, but everything made sense now, how Olivia was always so defensive around her, how she would constantly glare at her, or not even look at her at all, why she hardly ever spoke, everything now made sense, and she was having difficulty processing it all, but one thing was for sure, she had greatly misunderstood her partner.

Koel looked over at Silver, she wanted her to say something about this "Silver, do you have anything to say? At all?"

Silver looked back at her. "Yeah, but can you and Marriott leave for a few minutes so I can talk with Olivia alone?"

Koel smiled at her sister. "Of course, come on Marriott." She said as she lightly elbowed her partner who nodded, and they made their ways to the door, tossing their towels into the little laundry room, and closed the door behind them as they left.

Silver watched them go, then turned her attention to her own partner with a sigh, seeing that she was looking down at her bedsheets again with a blank expression, and after a few seconds of awkward silence between them, Silver finally spoke. "To be honest, I was not expecting something like that, but I guess everything makes sense now." Olivia didn't respond, so Silver continued on as she started to slowly make her way to her partner's bed. "I'm sorry you went through that, I know what it's like to lose both of your parents."

This seemed to have caught Olivia's attention, as she brought her head up to meet Silver's gaze with a curious one. "My mom died when I was eight, and my dad went when I was eleven, both of them were hunters, and both died while on missions."

Olivia slowly nodded. "I'm sorry to hear that." She said quietly. "It must be hard for you to do the same thing they got killed doing." She assumed, why wouldn't it after all?

Silver nodded gloomily. "It kind of is, but I do it to make them proud, I come from a long line of hunters, and I know they wouldn't've wanted me to be chased away from what they wanted me to be, and what I wanted to be, I do it so they could look down on me with a smile." Everything was silent again for a few seconds before Silver could find her words again. "Listen, uhh… I'm willing to put everything that's happened behind us, I'll admit, I didn't understand your perspective of me, all I saw was someone who I THOUGHT was just a faunus hater and that's it, and I let that blind me from seeing any other possibility of who you are, and whatever justification you might have had, and I'm sorry for that."

"I'm sorry too, and I have more to be sorry for," Olivia said, looking Silver in her crimson eyes, and her own eyes filled with regret. "I'm sorry I let my past experiences get the better of me, and cloud my judgment of you and Koel, I'm sorry for mistreating you, I'm sorry for everything. I knew it was wrong of me to look and think of you like the ways I did, I KNEW this, but I couldn't help it, I couldn't help myself. I want bygones to be bygones right now between us, so we can finally start being PARTNERS instead of enemies."

Silver nodded, a faint smile coming to her face. "Agreed." Olivia then smiled as well, the first real one that Silver had seen from her, and it made her own smile widen. Olivia stuck her hand out to her, and Silver took it, and shook. "Hug it out?" She jokingly suggested with a smirk.

Olivia huffed and rolled her eyes, but her smile persisted. "Don't push it." She replied.

"Alright, alright." Silver said, withdrawing her hand, and turned around, but was stopped by Olivia calling her name, and she looked at her curiously.

"Is your offer to go out into Vale still up?" She asked, a faint blush coming to her face even, and Silver had never felt herself smile so big before.

"Of course it is."

* * *

 **I hope you guys enjoyed this one, like I said, I'm proud of this one, and by the way, next chapter is when we finally get some ACTION AGAIN! So yeah, I hope you guys are ready and excited for that, because we're gonna have some fightin' going on for the first time in a while, I'll talk to you guys then!**


	17. Coleen

**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing but team SMOK, and a certain other character that is in this chapter ;)**

 **ER MAH GERD, LOOK AT IT... LOOK AT IT, IT'S A NEW FUCKING CHAPTER, LET'S THROW A PARTY GUYS! Holy crap, I'm so happy I'm done writing this chapter, this one was practically Pandora's Box for me, I swear, but it's finally here, YAY! I sincerely hope this chapter is worth the wait, I really freaking hope I chapter 17 doesn't take nearly as long, but knowing me, and my luck, there will probably be something random that comes up, and keeps me from writing it a lot, but let's hope not, I really want to get this story done before the start of March at least, which I SHOULD be able to do, but no promises.**

 **I'm not going to keep you guys any longer, so read, enjoy (hopefully), and review, now on with the chapter!**

* * *

"You two seem to be a lot better," Blake commented, referring to Silver and Olivia of course. "At the very least, you don't seem to be constantly glaring at all times."

Team SMOK decided to sit with team RWBY for breakfast, JNPR sitting at the table behind them, and the upperclassmen teams found a change in the atmosphere with the younger team right off the bat, specifically between Silver and Olivia, they were looking… they supposed happier could be a word they could use, but all of them seemed more at ease, there wasn't nearly as much of the awkward tension or silence, no almost hostile air surrounding the leader and her partner, everything just seemed more serene with all of them, and it was relieving to see them like this, almost refreshing even.

Olivia held her partner to her offer of going into Vale and just spending a little more time figuring stuff out about each other, and making progress in being teammates, partners, and friends, and they decided to offer the other two to go with them, they found it a bit inconsiderate not to, and Marriott accepted said offer almost immediately with a bright smile, Koel accepting shortly after, knowing that Marriott would probably drag her out anyway, so she might as well save them both the trouble, but she was of course no less joyful that Silver and Olivia finally were putting behind past troubles and other onerous matters that kept them from getting along.

Silver nodded at her fellow faunus' comment. "We understand each other better, and we actually talk without shouting now, so we've made progress. Amazing isn't it?"

"It's a true miracle indeed." Marriott joked.

"I thought the apocalypse was more likely for a while." Yang said with a snicker.

Silver rolled her eyes. "Well given that, I'm glad we proved you wrong."

Ruby was giggling all the while throughout their entire joking session before asking a question her and her team were probably thinking. "So how exactly did you make up?"

"Olivia actually talked to us." Silver responded, this time only half-joking.

Now it was Olivia's turn to roll her eyes. "And you actually listened."

"Oh please, I haven't even had anything coming from you to listen to! At least nothing that would help us."

Olivia quickly decided to really answer Ruby's question. "I told them about myself, where I come from, what's happened in my own past. I figured that would clear up my… irascible behavior."

Yang hummed. "I have no idea what that means, but alright." She said as she finished her breakfast.

Weiss sighed and shook her head. "It means easily angered you imbecile." She muttered.

"Sounds more like a word that would fit Yang pretty well actually." Pyrrha said with a joking smile from her team's table, breaking off from her own conversation she was having with Jaune, and she earned a mock glare from the brawler, which made both the redhead and her blonde leader titter.

"So," Ruby started, switching her attention back to the first-years. "Are you doing anything today then, since everything seems better now?"

Silver nodded. "Yeah, we're just going into Vale for the day, you know, to be a normal team for a change."

"We're probably just going to go walk around and get a feel for the area," Koel added. "We haven't really gotten many chances to go together."

"For obvious reasons." Marriott decided to finish, causing Silver and Olivia to huff a little.

"We hope you have fun," Jaune said. "It's always fun to go out and have a day together that doesn't involve classes."

"Just be careful," Weiss suddenly warned, instantly catching their attention. "There's been a bit of a spree of robberies lately, so be ready for anything."

"Way to kill the mood, ice queen." Yang murmured, using it as a sort of revenge for earlier, which earned her an icy glare **(puns!)**.

Silver chuckled, then nodded at Weiss' alert. "Thank you Weiss, if something is going to happen, I'd rather know it could happen, instead of it happening and having no way of knowing."

They all continued to converse about random stuff while they ate their breakfast, and once they were all finished, they said their goodbyes, and went their separate ways for the day, the upperclassmen wishing the younger team a good rest of the day together, Pyrrha saying they should come back "more as friends, rather than just a team", something they were going to take seriously into attempting, starting today.

* * *

"Hey Silver, what about that dress there?" Marriott jokingly asked her leader as the four girls passed by a clothes shop that had a plain pink dress in the display window. They had taken a bullhead down to Vale, and just started walking around, not with any particular destination in mind, they really just were going to wander around, see what they could see, and if they wanted or needed to stop at some place, they would.

Going back to Marriott's little joke question, she did not think of Silver as someone who liked dresses, or anything that was stereotypically girly for that matter, her normal attire should give enough credibility to that assumption, so she figured she could get a pretty good reaction out of the faunus by 'suggesting' a dress to her.

Said faunus raised an eyebrow, then hesitantly glanced over to the dress for a couple seconds before sighing and returned her eyes back to the direction they were walking in. "Okay, lets get something straight here," Marriott had a feeling that this would be good. "Suggesting a dress to me is a bad idea in the first place, but suggesting a PINK one, is a way to indirectly beg me to kill you." Marriott was correct.

This caused some giggles and chortles from the other three girls, and Silver, as narcissistic as she felt, quietly joined in after a few seconds. This felt good, to be with each other peacefully, without the stress of classes, or the awkward tension that followed wherever Silver or Olivia went, and Silver didn't have the pressure of being a leader, they could just be friends for the day, they finally felt like a normal team, and it was only up from here.

They didn't really plan a lot for this little trip into Vale, they were mainly just going to walk around, get used to the scenery, gawk at all the beautiful sights the huge freaking place had to offer, and just see where the wind would take them next. Obviously Olivia would lead them most of the way, considering she has actually lived in Vale for pretty much her entire life, and even though Silver and Koel had been to Vale a handful of times with Alexandrite whenever she had business to deal with, they had never really explored around much, nor did they tend to stay for more than just one day, so it's not like they had a lot of time to wander about. And then there was Marriott who had absolutely no idea what Vale was like in the slightest, and she was amazed to see the sheer size of the city, it was so much different than Vacuo, everything was close together, buildings and people alike, and everyone seemed so happy, not miserable and poor, she didn't see nearly as many jobless and homeless, like she had grown so used to seeing in Vacuo.

After a while of just walking around and taking small breaks from walking here and there, they stopped by a restaurant for lunch, and noticed that dark clouds were slowly starting to come into view. As their luck would have it, they had seen while they were out that it was supposed to rain during the day, maybe even a chance of thunderstorms. "Of course it would be today of all days," Koel said, annoyed at the convenience of the situation. "Why wouldn't it?"

They ate their lunch in relative comfort, except for Silver at certain times, because every once in a while she would notice their server taking longer-than-necessary glances at her, and sometimes not just at her face, but aside from this creepy fact, they all sat, ate, and had a good time with each other.

They payed the check, left a tab, and Silver silently thanked the gods that they were finally leaving, and they walked back out onto the sidewalk. There weren't many people left walking around, probably heading back to their homes to avoid getting rained on, and the four girls debated for a couple minutes if they should stick around Vale a little longer, and risk getting poured on if it indeed started to rain, or if they should just play things safe, and go back to the dorm, which is what they ultimately decided on, figuring that they could just come back some other day when there is less of a chance of water falling from the sky **(If anyone gets that reference "there is water falling from the sky", you win)**. As they were on their way back from eating, they passed by an ammo shop, and Silver stopped for a moment. "Hold on, I need some bullets for Azurewrath." She looked at her team. "You guys go on ahead, I'll catch up to you."

"Alright," Marriott said, nodding. "We'll be sure to leave you behind."

Koel giggled, then looked at her adoptive sister. "We'll wait for you at the shipyard."

Silver nodded, and walked into the shop while the other three continued on their way to the shipyard. She entered the shop, a bell at the entrance dinging to signify her entrance, the shopkeeper looked at her, smiling and nodding in greeting, Silver returning the gesture as she made her way into the different isles, browsing around and pondering what exactly she wanted to get. _'_ _I want to try something outside of just regular old bullets… ooh, what about the dust infused ones, I've never tried them.'_

She made her way to the isle that had the dust infused bullets, and she looked amongst the different kinds, and there was definitely no shortage of variety; burn, ice, electricity, so on and so forth, and obviously the last one is what appealed to her the most. She picked up the case of the electricity dust infused bullets. ' _I've never used dust infused bullets… or dust infused anything, I guess I could just ask Weiss for any advice so I don't destroy stuff… on accident_ _of course_ _.'_

As she was considering it, she heard the bell at the front sound off, and in walked a woman, looking like she was around her early-to-mid-twenties, with firebrick hair that is pulled back in a ragged ponytail, and ashy gray eyes. Her attire consisted of dark brown coat that almost doubled as a cape, it had a large collar that almost covered her neck entirely. Her shoulders were left bear, leaving her arms to be covered by matching gloves that went up to her elbows, and a strange red rod, the same color as her hair, was attached to her forearm. She wore red leggings, and her look is completed by a pair of dark brown boots that go up to her knees.

But what stuck out the most about her was the distinct wolf ears, same color as her hair, that rested on the top of her head, and the tail that jutted out of her lower back, swishing lazily back and forth behind her. Silver's eyes widened as she realized just what exactly this woman was, and it astounded her. _'A wolf faunus? I didn't even know those were still around?'_

She was not alone either, three men, and two women followed her in, the women having a similar uniform to hers, while the men had black coats, gray gloves, and gray boots.

They walked up to the front counter, and Silver immediately felt like something was off with them, especially the redheaded woman leading them in, and apparently she wasn't alone in this feeling, she could clearly see shopkeeper tense up at the sight of them. _'Does he know them?'_

"Hello, Quinn." The woman addressed the shopkeeper in a smooth, deep voice, and for some reason it sent a chill down Silver's spine. "How are you this fine day?"

The shopkeeper, identified as Quinn, sighed. "What do you need this time Coleen?" Silver could hear his voice quiver a little.

The redhead, now known as Coleen, chuckled. "Well, me and my friends here need some ammo, we're running a bit low, so we came to get some more. Unfortunately, we also don't have much lien, so I was hoping you could grant us a little discount." Silver had a feeling as to where this was going, if the smirk on Coleen's face was any indication, and she didn't like it.

Quinn shook his head. "Listen, I can't grant you anything unless you have the lien for whatever you ne-" He was cut off by a handgun being abruptly shoved in his face, something he probably should've expected.

Coleen narrowed her eyes at him, and her smirk disappeared. "Wrong answer." She looked back at her "friends". "Go get whatever you need."

' _Hold on, they're robbing a store during the day? Smart…'_ Silver thought, then she thought about the situation, specifically the position she's in, and she suddenly became conflicted. ' _Wait, what should I do, should I try to stop them, or-'_

"Hey kid," She heard a gruff voice behind her, and she gasped, eyes widening as she felt something pressed against her back. "Hand over the bullets, or I'll need to use my own to get them."

Well, this was great. When trying to think of a way to handle this, she got herself stuck in a corner, so to speak. She thought about it real quick, then something she could do came to mind. She closed her eyes and sighed, feigning surrender, and dropped the box on the ground. "Good choice." She could practically hear the smirk on his face. He then went to pick it up, walking passed her, and taking the gun from her back.

' _Here goes nothing'_ She then turned abruptly to face him, and before he could react to anything, or see anything coming at all, she kneed him in his cheek, then as he staggered back, she punched him in the same cheek, and he fell back into the back shelf with a crash, and fell to the ground, unconscious. She winced at the volume of the crash. ' _Well, no going back now I guess.'_

"Hey," she heard the redhead say. "What's going on back there?" Somehow they didn't see anything, and they got no response from their fallen comrade. "Go check what's going on." She told one of her followers, and Silver instantly tensed, not like she wasn't tense already.

' _Well, this is a fine mess.'_ Silver heard the footsteps of the next person getting closer, and she made up her mind. ' _Might as well make the most of this, I'm a huntress dam_ _m_ _it, I'll be doing this regularly someday.'_

She pressed herself against one of the shelves, and waited for the next one to finally show up. "Xander," Silver heard a female voice call out. "You alri-" She started to ask, but stopped herself when she caught sight of Silver, and she gasped as Silver smirked, and quickly put a hand on her chest, just above her breasts, then sent a strong jolt of electricity through her arm, and it was enough to send the goon flying back, and through the left side window, landing on the sidewalk outside.

Silver decided to make a break for the outside **(Song reference!)** now that there was an opening, and she ran to the window, or where it was more like, and jumped through it with surprisingly no resistance coming from the robbers, but that was probably out of shock at what just happened.

 **(Did you guys catch the pun there? Electricity, shock, HAHA… I've never been funny)**

She turned around to face the store, and saw the remaining goons looking wide-eyed at her, while the redheaded leader was looking at her with just a mere curiosity. "Well, that was unexpected." She said as she slowly walked out of the store, the three remaining with her following through. "Get her, but make sure you don't underestimate her," She directed her ashy eyes back at Silver. "Apparently we're not just dealing with some banal teenager."

One of the two remaining men charged at her, drawing a sword from a sheath he had strapped to his waist, and she activated Azurewrath, avoiding the man's slash of the sword in the process. He stabbed at her, but Silver noticed his technique was off, leaving himself unbalanced, and she kicked him in the chest, making reel back. Silver then launched herself at him, getting behind him before he could regain his equilibrium, and she hit him in the back of the head with the flat side of her right wrist-blade, making sure she didn't accidentally stab him through the head. She wasn't going to try to kill anybody, but she did intend on giving them a message. With a small grunt, the man fell to the ground unconscious.

Silver heard running coming from her right, and she turned just in time to see the second woman running after, a pair of nunchucks in hand, and Silver jumped out of the way as she swung one of them at her. _'You know, it would probably be better for them if they charge at me all at once, but oh well, I'm not complaining.'_ She thought as the woman charged at her again, and started swinging at her with the nunchucks, and Silver had to admit, she was skilled with them, but not to the point of controlling them very well in combat, she noticed a lot of the swings were inaccurate, and somewhat wild, and all Silver had to do was just jump back or to the side to avoid.

After a few seconds of this, she stopped and let the woman get close, just for her to duck under another slightly wild swing of the nunchucks, and she grabbed the metal chain connecting the nuncucks tightly, and sent another strong jolt of electricity through her arm, instantly shocking the woman, and dazing her, Silver then spin kicking her in the ribs, and the woman was sent tumbling to the ground.

Silver looked back at the final remaining man, and she noticed the slightly scared look in his eyes. "Well," The ashy-eyed woman said sternly. "What are you waiting for? Get her."

"Uh, y-yes ma'am." He said in a stutter, and Silver couldn't help but smirk at him. He unsheathed a talwar from his waist, just like the previous man, and he charged at her, hesitantly I might add, and he started to blindly swing at her, it was clear he didn't want to fight her, and it didn't take long for her to find her opening. She parried a weak slash at her with both of her wrist-blades, and she kneed upwards into the handle of the talwar, knocking it out of his hands, and landing a couple feet from them. She smirked at him again as he stood there petrified, and she elbowed him in the temple, making him fall to the ground instantly. _'Wow, that guy was pathetic.'_ She thought, then she heard something strange, it sounded like… clapping?

She looked at the redheaded leader of the goons, finding she was the source of said clapping, and she had a smirk on her face. "You are certainly something else, aren't you?" Coleen started to slowly walk towards Silver. "Not bad for a little kitten."

Silver scoffed. "I'm just a kitten huh?" She then gestured to all of the redheads fallen comrades. "If I'm a kitten, what does it make your thugs here?"

"Hmph, mouses apparently." She responded with a grunt, but that damned smirk quickly reemerged on her face. "And mouses are scared of cats, but…" She trailed off, grabbing hold of the rod on her forearm. "Cats are afraid of dogs, are they not?" She then pressed a button, and the rod ended up being the handle of a bullwhip, the same shade of red as her hair, and she cracked it, creating a small sonic boom, making the "kitten's" ears ring briefly.

Silver glared, knowing she was in for a fight now, and she got into her stance. "Not all of them, some stand up for themselves."

Coleen chuckled. "Some do, yes." She cracked the whip again. "But let me demonstrate what happens to them in the end."

She cracked the whip a third time, now directly at Silver, and it stopped just a few inches in front of the faunus, teasing her, making another sonic boom, which, much to Silver's chagrin, made her flinch slightly at the loud pop and close proximity, and she could see the sickening smirk on Coleen's face growing.

' _So we're playing it this way, huh? Fine then.'_ With that thought, Silver decided to throw caution to the wind, and charged the woman.

* * *

 **CLIFFHANGER, HAHA GOTCHA BITCH!**

 **Anyway, I want you guys to meet Coleen Fiye, heheh, we will be learning more about her, and what major role she'll have in the story later on, but until then, I guess you guys can theorize what she has in store for the future of the story, the only thing I'll say here though is that she is NOT a replacement for Roman Torchwick, or anyone else really, Roman will be making some appearance in the story at some point, I just don't quite have a concrete idea of when, but he'll be here soon.**

 **EDIT: I decided to change Coleen to be a wolf faunus, I debated whether I should or not, since I already have Silver and Koel being faunus', but with Coleen being a wolf faunus, this will make creating a backstory for her much easier, among other things moving forward.**

 **By the way, you think Silver is going to have a lot to explain to her team when she catches up to them after her whole little debacle here with Coleen? She's definitely going to have a lot to say, that's for sure... if she gets the chance of course. *Smirks***

 **Anyway, I hope this chapter was worth the wait, if it wasn't, well... fuck me, I honestly have some mixed feelings for this one, but I think next chapter will be better, after all, we should have a freaking epic fight, so hopefully I won't fuck everything up. If you DID enjoy the chapter, leave a favorite, maybe a follow of the story if you really enjoyed it that much, and if you have anything to say, jot down a review for me, and if anyone knows the references I made in this chapter, say so, I'm genuinely interested in seeing if anyone gets them. I'll talk to you guys next chapter!**


	18. Cat vs Dog

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own RWBY, because if I did, it would probably be a train wreck from minute one**

 **Ugh, finals have me dying on the inside, and they are why I was unable to work on this chapter until freaking yesterday, which is kinda funny, because that means I got this chapter out TWO days after starting to write it, and THAT means that I'm finally getting back into the full swing of things, and hopefully this will continue until the end of this story, because that would mean this will be done probably by the end of February, or the beginning of March. I also admittedly have Starset's new album Vessels (ADVERTISEMENT, WHERE'S MY MONEY) to thank for this, because I listened to it while I was working on this chapter, and if I actually have any Starset fans out there who are reading this, STARSET SOCIETY FOR THE FREAKING WIN!**

 **And real quick here, just in case you guys didn't catch the edit that I made in the last chapter, Coleen is a wolf faunus, and the true significance of this will be evident soon. Now, on with the chapter!**

* * *

Silver charged the wolf faunus, dodging the two whip cracks from Coleen, and she got in close to throw a few punches, Coleen leaning and jumping back from all of them. Once she was out of reach, the redhead cracked the whip at Silver again, this time to fast for her to react, and it got her in her arm, and she quietly yelped, an immediate stinging came to the surface of her upper arm, and apparently the whip-user heard the yelp, and chuckled at her. "Come on kitten," Coleen taunted. "Try a little harder, you made that far to easy."

Silver growled in the back of her throat, and charged her again and started swinging, even slashing a few times, trying to find a way to at least touch her, but every time she would attempt, the wolf faunus was able to barely get out of reach of Azurewrath, but there was something else that was interfering, actually a couple things. First of all, Silver knew she had to be careful when using Azurewrath, the fact that every time she would punch, it would end up almost as a stab when Azurewrath is activated, after all, she made them to mainly fight and kill Grimm, not humans, so she could at times be at an automatic disadvantage against anything that isn't Grimm. But there was something else wrong right now, and it was the fact that when she would get in a position to lay a hit on her opponent, it felt as though something was stopping her in her tracks, almost like there was some sort of shield, outside of aura, that was protecting her from Silver's attacks, but Silver didn't know what it was.

After her latest missed punch, Silver decided to back off quickly to regroup her thoughts, and compose herself a little. The fact that she couldn't lay a single knock on this woman was irritating to say the least, but it was also highly unnerving, she wasn't surprised by the amazing amount of agility the wolf faunus had, but whatever was cutting her attacks short of her was what was getting her confused. _'Maybe it is her aura, and she somehow got it that strong, but how would that be possible?'_

Her retreat didn't last long, because Coleen had swung the whip her way yet again as she was in thought, sensing she let her guard down slightly, and the whip wrapped itself around her wrist. Silver gasped as she was suddenly – and very roughly – pulled forward. She tried to plant her feet on the ground to grip, and skid to a stop, or at least to slow herself down to avoid getting pulled and swung around wildly by the whip, but to no avail at first as she was pulled towards Coleen, and she felt herself lose her own breath as she was punched right in the gut, feeling her own aura pulse violently against her stomach, but as she doubled over after the strike, after her years of training in fist-fighting, and pretty much anything akin to it, she realized what Coleen was going to try to do next, and her prediction was correct when she saw through her now slightly hazy vision that her knee was starting to lift off the ground, but before it could connect with her head like Coleen probably was aiming for, she was able to get her own hand out to block the intended strike, and she jumped back a couple feet, then decided to give Coleen a taste of her own medicine, and rapidly pulled her own arm, the same one the whip was wrapped around, and she pulled the whip-user towards her with her like she had done, surprising her with her sudden show of strength, twisting around, and elbowing her in the side of her head, finally landing a hit on her, making the wolf faunus dazed, and stumble slightly to the side. Silver then twisted herself out of the whips grip, and kicked Coleen in the back, making her fall to the ground a few feet in front of her.

Silver stood there, her breath not fully with her yet following the blow to her gut, and Coleen started to pick herself up after a couple seconds of trying to get over the hits she had just sustained, and the surprise of the power the young cat faunus had just showcased. _'Guess I just got a little careless,'_ She thought as she got up. _'But no more, I'll end this here and now.'_

"Not bad," She commented as she fully got to her feet. "You actually got a couple hits on me, congratulations." Then a sickening sneer came to the surface of her face. "But try as you might, this will end soon enough. You can't win."

Silver didn't respond, only scowling, and she activated the bullet chamber in Azurewrath, and she shot off three bullets at Coleen, some of the only ones she had left, but before they could hit their target, the redhead spread her arms out in front of her, and what appeared to be some sort of red force field suddenly spawned, effectively blocking the bullets, making them fall to the ground with a dull _clink_. "What!?" Silver cried in surprise, and she could see the sneer from Coleen widen behind the transparency of the 'force field'.

"I told you I would show you what happens to kittens like you," She said behind her strange creation. "And I intend on doing just that." She then cracked the whip at her shield, and it shattered as if it were glass, and all the shards were aimed directly at Silver.

Silver cried out again as she shielded herself with only her arms, curling up slightly as added protection, and she waited to feel the sting, cuts, and gashes that she was sure the seemingly glass-like shards would make once they made contact, but strangely enough, she felt nothing of the sort, and she lowered her arms slightly, then realized what the real motive of the strange attack, which was to only distract her, but she noticed this too late as she saw Coleen rushing her now, swinging the whip at her, and once again having it wrap itself around her wrist.

Silver was pulled towards her slightly just as Coleen was getting to her, and before she could react, Coleen drove a powerful knee straight into her sternum, and as she doubled over again, she felt a hard punch delivered right to her jaw, and she was then swung around and up into the side of a building, slamming back-first, and falling to the ground, landing on her front. Silver whimpered in pain as she could taste the coppery tang of blood in her mouth, and she felt as though her entire body was suddenly starting to shut down, and everything started to get blurry at a rapid pace, but despite this, she could faintly hear the sound of footsteps approaching her, and with a lot more effort than normally needed, she slowly lifted her head to see Coleen nearing her, kneeling down to her, the cruel sneer still on her face, and an evil look in her eyes. "You should've backed away when you had the chance, because this is what happens to kittens like you when they try to go up against dogs, while commendable and brave, also stupid and vacuous." The rain started to finally fall.

"SILVER!" A shout from down the road sounded before Coleen could carry on with whatever she intended to do with the fallen huntress-in-training, and they could see Koel running toward them.

Coleen scowled, and looked back down at Silver. "As much as I would like to really show you, it won't be worth the trouble of having to deal with someone else to do so." She then disappeared from Silver's limited line of sight, but a few seconds later she heard her voice again, albeit barely. "I'll see you around kitten."

Silver lost track of everything after that, she could hear her own heartbeat, her head pounded in sync with it, her chest hurt with every beat, and her vision was getting more blurry and dark, Silver knew she was about to pass out, she didn't even realize when Koel had gotten to her.

"Silver!" She shouted in urgency, unknowing of the possible extent of her sister's injuries. "Are you okay!? What happened here?!" Silver tried to respond, but when she opened her mouth too, only a shaky breath was all that surfaced, and everything went black.

* * *

It was an… awkward ride back to Beacon to say the least, and it would be a great understatement if we said Marriott and Olivia were just a little shocked to see Koel come back while carrying an unconscious Silver with her, and of course they asked questions like "what the hell happened", or "how the hell did this happen", but the only thing Koel was able to say was that there was someone kneeling over Silver, and that was it.

The ride back was also very quiet, much too quiet for them to be used to. It's not that they were to overly-worried that Silver was injured THAT badly, but it was the fact that they had no idea whatsoever of what happened to their leader in the time that they separated, and they wouldn't know for sure until Silver woke up so she could tell them, no matter how much they could try to theorize a way this could've happened, and why for that matter.

The three girls' obvious suspect to what went on was the woman Koel said was kneeling over her sister, but beyond that, they couldn't do much in the way of figuring out anything for sure.

Once they arrived at Beacon, they immediately went to the little hospital wing Beacon had, and here they now were, sitting in near silence outside of their leader's room, waiting for the nurse to get done with her check-over of Silver, and while Marriott and Olivia stayed relatively calm about the situation, at least outwardly, just sitting at the seats available, Koel was a different story, and for obvious reasons, as she paced around in front of them, walking back-and-forth with seemingly no pause, and while the other two knew she was clearly on edge, once again, for obvious reasons, it was starting to get on their nerves ever-so-slightly.

Marriott decided after a few minutes of watching her partner pace around endlessly to try to reassure her. "Koel, you're going to dig yourself a rut in the ground if you don't stop soon, so just calm down a little, I'm sure Silver will be just fine."

Koel stopped in her pacing at long last, and sighed. "It's not that I think she's really hurt that bad, it's everything else about the situation, like who did this too her, why they did it, and…" She trailed off, taking a shaky breath. "I'm worried whoever did this will try again."

"You think they'll come back for more?" Olivia asked.

Koel nodded. "It's clear that I was interrupting whatever that woman had planned for Silver, and I'm scared of what exactly that is, and if she will actually come back."

"What if she was there to help Silver?" Marriott proposed, trying to find some way to lessen her partner's worry.

Koel shook her head this time. "If that were the case, she would not have run away when I got there." Koel was sure at this point that the woman she found there was the one who did this to Silver, but why was a different story.

"Where did the woman run off too?" Olivia asked, wanting to get as much information about the situation as she could.

"Into an alleyway, but she just kind of disappeared. I didn't bother chasing after her though, so I can't say for sure where exactly she went."

"Was there anything, or anybody else around when you got there?"

Koel thought back, and she remembered seeing other men and women scattered around the street. "There was three men, and two women, all unconscious, all the men had matching outfits, and the women did too with each other, and one of the window's to the ammo shop was broken."

Olivia rested her chin in her hand, processing the information given. "Maybe those people robbed the place, and Silver tried to stop them?" She suggested, it was the only thing she could think of given limited amount of insight.

Koel thought about it for a second. "I have no doubt she would do something like that." She murmured

Marriott hummed in agreement. "If that's the case, than I guess that woman was just too much for her to handle."

Koel only nodded, and she leaned her back against the wall, suddenly seeming to go into a state of deep thought, and the other two noticed the slightly troubled look on her face as she did so, they could tell that there was something she wasn't telling them.

"Something else bothering you?" Olivia asked, eyebrow raised.

Koel looked back at them, her slightly troubled expression unchanging. "There… there was something about that woman that seemed… familiar."

This made Marriott and Olivia even more curious. "Familiar… how?" The orange-haired knight pressed.

Koel looked down, again going into deep thought, trying to remember the limited-by-distance sight of the woman she had. "Mainly her hair, it was… a specific type of red," She looked at her teammates, both of which had slightly confused looks. "Not like your hair Marriott, it was more like… kind of a firebrick color… I don't know why that feels familiar to me, but it just does."

Before they could delve deeper into their confusion however, the door to Silver's room opened, and out came the nurse, immediately gaining the attention of the three girls, but through experience, she knew what questions were coming. "Before you ask your questions, yes, she will be fine, and she should wake up soon. All she really has is a few cracked ribs here and there, but outside of that, she should be okay, she'll just have to take it easy for a while until they heal." Koel sighed in relief at the relatively good news, silently thanking the gods her little sister was going to okay.

"Can we go inside to see her?" Olivia asked.

The nurse smiled and nodded. "Of course, like I said, she should wake up soon, so if you want to stay in there for when she does, go ahead."

They thanked the nurse, and went in the room, already having questions lined up for their leader when she wakes up.

* * *

 **Well, Silver got her ass kicked, didn't she? Also lucky that Koel randomly showed up when she did, who knows (other than me of course haha) what might've happened to her if Koel hadn't arrived when she did? And as for why Koel showed up, that will be explained, don't worry.**

 **Now let's go over a couple of things about Coleen. First of all, her weapon, a bullwhip named Firecracker (PUNS ARE FUN!), does what any other whip can do, but there is another function to it that will be revealed later on. Second though, her semblance, something I am proud of for thinking about, her semblance allows her to make shields, and once the shield is broken, depending on how hard it is hit, can be made into a sort of weapon, because the glass-like shards fly like projectiles in whatever direction they are shattered in, and as for why Silver's attacks were being "blocked" when she should've hit Coleen, will also be explained later.**

 **But now a question surfaces, why does Coleen seem familiar to Koel like she says? That might or might not be answered soon, but whether it is or isn't, I recommend you guys strap yourselves in, because I assure you, pretty soon things will get a tad bit wild! Review, like, follow, blah blah blah, and I'll talk to you guys next chapter!**


	19. Aftermath

**DISCLAIMER: I only own team SMOK and Coleen, nothing beyond that**

 **Hey guys, I'm finally now good enough to start writing again, and look-y here, new chapter! :D**

 **I'm gonna say right now that chapter 19 is going to probably be uploaded this weekend instead of on a weekday, considering the stuff I'll probably have to do for my classes that I already missed two days for, and I still have driver's ed for a few more days (someone please, _please_ kill me), plus I'm going to be sore as _hell_ more than likely because two of my classes are sport related (yeeeee sports!), and they involve a lot of moving obviously, so this semester for me is going to be hell in so many different ways, but I'll still trudge through and ring out as many chapters as I can.**

 **Also, this chapter is one of the shortest of the story so far, and probably also one of the most boring for the most part, but things will pick back up pretty quickly, so don't worry! Read, review, and enjoy (hopefully)!**

* * *

Pain…

Soreness…

And pretty much anything else you could think that is akin to those, is what Silver was feeling. Her head throbbed painfully in tune with her heartbeat, her back felt _hopelessly sore_ , and her chest, specifically down around her _ribs_ , _DAMN,_ it all hurt and ached so horribly much!

' _What happened? What the hell did I do?'_

She cracked open her eyes, and was immediately met with an unforgiving bright light in her eyes, which momentarily blinded her. She groaned quietly at the constant, pulsating pain that kept assaulting her being, and let her eyes adjust to the light that so rudely glared at her.

"Hey," She heard a familiar female voice. "I think she's waking up now."

Then the memories of everything hit her just like the pain in her body as she is waking up. _'_ _Oh, shit…'_

She suddenly jerked herself up into a sitting position, and was immediately besieged by a piercing feeling in her ribs, and she shrieked in surprise and pain.

She then felt a pair of hands grab hold of her shoulders, and gently push her back down. "Hey, hey, calm down, it's okay." She heard another voice say softly, and she immediately recognized it. _'Koel!'_

Silver focused her sight, and finally saw the face of her sister. "You're hurt, so be careful with yourself." She said, keeping her soft tone that an older sister always seemed to have at times like this. Silver looked around the room briefly, and she recognized it as some sort of hospital room or something, and she saw Marriott and Olivia in the corner of the room behind Koel, the redhead smiling warmly at her, while the ladder just nodded and waved at her. "Are you okay?" Koel asked.

Silver looked back at her sister, noticing the small patch of worry starting to appear on her features, and she only nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine." Her voice was a bit raspy, probably because of how dry her throat felt right now. "What happened?" She then asked, and this felt more like a trick question, even to her, and she's the one who asked it. She already knew what happened, but she supposed she just wanted clarification.

She saw Marriott shrug in the corner, her smile disappearing. "That's kind of what we wanna know."

"Koel went to go check what was taking you so long at the ammo shop," Olivia said. "We expected you to be with her when she came back, but we didn't expect you being unconscious at the same time."

Silver propped herself up on her elbows, slowly of course, as not to further the pain in her chest. _'I guess that explains how Koel just showed up out of nowhere.'_

"You had me worried," Koel said, interrupting Silver's thoughts, and when Silver looked back up at her, she saw something she was not used to when looking at Koel; a glare, directed right at her, but it wasn't the glare of pure anger, granted there was still a little of anger in Koel's misty eyes, but there was a heavy dose of concern that overshadowed the anger for the most part; basically, the glare was of the 'please be more careful' category, and Silver suddenly felt even more uncomfortable now as Koel continued on. "Really, really worried Silver. I… I was scared when I saw that woman standing over you."

Silver didn't know what to say, she knew Koel was overprotective of her, something she most likely developed from Alexandrite, but it was definitely showing now, she looked, and sounded scared for her, and Silver was not used to being in this position. "I-I'm sorry, Koel." That was all she could think of to say.

The older faunus sighed and shook her head. "Never mind… who was that woman?"

The sudden and straightforward question caught Silver off-guard. "Huh?" She managed.

"That woman that was with you, who was she?" Koel's question now sounded more demanding than anything, and this was a sister's overprotective-ness at work.

Silver thought back to the scene in the ammo shop when the woman had come in, trying to recall what had been said. She remembered the shopkeeper saying her name, and after a second of thinking, she finally got it. "I think her name is… Coleen?"

"Why was she there? What all happened after we separated?"

Silver knew she had to tell them all about what happened, and that's exactly what she did. She told them when Coleen and her "friends" entered the shop, how they stood up the shopkeeper, and how she got involved in trying to stop them, all of it leading up to when she fought Coleen herself, and, bluntly, got her ass kicked by her.

When she was done explaining everything to her teammates, they all had a look of understanding, but Silver could also sense a hint of disturbance among them.

She wasn't just seeing things, or getting paranoid either, they really were disturbed by the fact that this Coleen could beat her like she had, and as easily and bluntly as Silver herself put it. Silver was a great fighter, that much was obvious to them, and she had proven that despite being a year younger, she was not afraid to challenge someone or something, no matter the size, but if she was disposed of like she says, they knew there was a legitimate threat amongst them if Coleen decided to show up again.

Marriott chuckled bitterly. "You're a great guesser Olivia." She complimented, recalling how spot-on Olivia's guess was earlier.

The swordswoman scoffed, looking away and into the doorway. "Yeah, I guess, but sometimes I wish I wasn't."

Silver, throughout all the talking and explaining, seemingly forgot about the pain in her chest, so in a way, it was kind of a relief, but when she tried to lift herself up more on the bed, the pain reminded her that it was still there by giving her the same sharp, piercing feeling in her ribs, and she gave out another small yelp at the sensation, falling back onto the bed slightly. She began to wonder what exactly she suffered in her fight, or as she put it, ass-kicking, against Coleen, something she probably should have thought about a lot sooner than currently.

She was about to ask the other three in the room what the extent of her injuries were, but her partner must have seen the question coming. "The nurse said you have a few cracked ribs," Olivia reported to her leader. "But other than that you should be fine."

Silver numbly nodded, knowing if Koel hadn't shown up when she did, things could have been much worse. She still felt like it was the right choice to do what she did, and stand up to those people, but she knew it was a risk for her to take, even if it was one she was WILLING to take so she could help that place, for someone as young and inexperienced as she is, it could have gone _horribly_ wrong on _so_ many levels, and in _so_ many different ways, and in the end, it almost actually did for her, and even if she did get lucky with her sister's sudden arrival to the scene, she knew that luck won't be riding shotgun right next to her at all times.

"Do I need to stay in here?" Silver asked. She didn't really like the idea of being stuck in a hospital room for any extended amount of time. With so little to do, she was pretty sure she would end up going crazy before being let out.

Koel shook her head as she finally backed away from Silver's bed. "A nurse came in a few minutes before you woke up, and said that you could leave when you came to."

Silver mentally celebrated that, and for the third time, started to push herself up, now as carefully as she could without causing herself too much pain, which she successfully did (for the most part at least), and she sat down on the edge of the bed. "But," Olivia's voice suddenly rang. "She also said a while ago that you'll need to take it easy for a while until you ribs are healed."

Silver scoffed sarcastically. "'Take it easy', whatever that means."

Olivia rolled her eyes at her antics. "Yeah, well you're gonna have to learn what it means." There were hints of a small smile on her face as she said this, and Silver chuckled a little, at least they were finally making progress.

Silver started to push herself up off the bed slowly, grunting quietly at the discomfort in her chest, and Koel put a hand out in front of her. "Do you need any help?"

The platinum-haired leader shook her head. "No, I can get up on my own." She chided softly, to which Koel just nodded and took back her hand. Silver eventually got all the way up, and she bent her legs a little to loosen them back up, and get some of the stiffness that had developed in her lower body out.

"Don't forget Silver," Olivia said, casting a hard look at her partner. "The next semester starts pretty soon, so we don't want you still hurting too bad when it starts, because we all know what comes with the new semester…" She trailed off. Indeed, they did know what did.

But Marriott of course, with her growing excitement over it, felt the need to reinforce it. "We get the chance to go on missions soon!" She said with a fist pump.

Silver rolled her eyes at her easily-excitable teammate, then nodded at Olivia's word. "You're right, I'll take it easy until I'm better, don't worry." She reassured them.

Koel smiled at her. "Well then come on, let's get out of this place, and back to the dorm." They then made their way out of the nurse's office, Silver receiving a small bottle of pills to ease her pain on the way, then went straight to their dorm, planning to just relax for the rest of the day. Even if it was just past three in the afternoon, they still had been through a bit of a long day, and they just wanted to stop, rest, put this day behind them, and look forward to the new semester, and the new chances it would offer them.

* * *

 **Well that's that. I don't really have much to say here other than I'm really freaking tired and I'm not looking forward to school tomorrow, but whatever. I apologize if this chapter isn't exciting in any way, but you gotta have a filler chapter like this every once in a while to show what's going on beyond the plot and action, but like I said up top, things will be picking right back up pretty quickly, so bear with me, and I'll talk to you guys next time!**


	20. Down to business

**DISCLAIMER: This will be the last time I put up a disclaimer, because you all get it by now, what are the chances of someone like me owning freaking RWBY?**

 **New chapter, yay! This chapter was kind of fun to write, so I hope it will be just as fun for you guys to read! :D**

 **Real quick though, I want to say something before the chapter begins, which is just to thank you guys, even though that isn't at all what you guys deserve, because to me, you guys deserve much more, but a mere thank you is all I really got to offer unfortunately. First of all, I want to thank you guys for being patient, I know that lately chapter updates have been pretty erratic for the most part, so I'm thankful you guys have been patient with that, I know it's very disappointing only getting mere updates in place of actual chapters.**

 **Second, and most importantly, I just want to thank the those of you that follow, favorite, and review this story, and read whenever there's a new chapter, even though there aren't many of you that do so, but I honestly don't care how many of you there are that read this, because I don't care about becoming some famous dude on here that feels like they're to good for you guys, I only care about making and releasing these chapters, and entertaining those of you that care about it, whether that's one person, or two, or a hundred, which will probably never happen, but like I said, I don't care about that, I just care as long as at least one person reads my stories, and enjoys them. So thank you all!**

 **Now, enough of that mushy stuff, let's get on with the chapter!**

* * *

The second semester of team SMOK's first year had finally arrived, and the shared excitement between the four girls was easy to sense.

After Silver's skirmish with Coleen, she had made a simple and quick recovery without much trouble, her ribs had healed quite rapidly, and she was back to training like herself in just a few days, even though she made it clear she didn't want to wait at all.

Her ribs healed just in time for the new semester to begin as well, and after much anticipation – and impatience for that matter – _that_ day had arrived.

Silver was a bit more taciturn in showing her own excitement, she wasn't saying much about having the chance of going on a real mission for the first time, but if someone was observant enough, they could see how the chance was enlivening her. Being from a family that was filled with great huntsmen and huntresses, she felt like she had her own expectations to live up to, and she knew this was her first real opportunity to do so.

Marriott on the other hand was the complete opposite in showing her enthusiasm, as you would probably expect. She was practically bouncing off of every wall around in her excitement. It all just felt so surreal to her! She was going to go on her first mission ever as a huntress (well, in training, but don't ruin the moment for her!), and she was ready to just go already!

Olivia was more like Silver, she was quiet, but you could see in her sky blue eyes that she was no less happy to go on a mission. She had poised herself to getting ready for a moment like this for years now, and now that the time had finally arisen, she was not only ready to take a huge step in being a true huntress, but also doing something that would have made her parents proud of her.

Koel, as you could imagine, was obviously excited, and also a little nervous, but didn't say much of anything. She expected that her teammates were nervous too, at least somewhat. There's no telling whatsoever of what could happen out there, and being the normally shy and kinda paranoid girl she is, she was a little edgy, but she was going to do her best not to show it; she didn't want to dampen the mood her teammates had.

They had heard and seen teams from the other academies of note, namely the first year teams, all of them coming to join them later in the day to get their own missions. Today was a great and exciting day for all beginning teams, and they felt silly for only truly describing said day as just 'exciting', but there was hardly a better word for it. Today was the springboard of sorts for their careers, where they could put what they've learned, both in the classroom, and the training room, and put it all to use for real now.

Currently, team SMOK was making their last minute preparations, just in case they chose a mission that warranted them to begin immediately, which is what they wanted anyway, and as they were doing so, Marriott, predictably, could not keep her keep herself in check, as she was practically jumping all morning. "Come on guys, get finished quicker, I wanna go already!"

Olivia giggled at her fellow human, and shook her head. "We're almost done Marriott, just control yourself for a few more minutes."

Marriott pouted a little, something that looked strangely entertaining to the other three for some reason. "A few minutes will feel like years at this rate!" She complained, sounding like a little kid, which was also entertaining to them. It was odd seeing Marriott, someone who had accomplished so much in Vacuo, and someone so strong, act like this.

"Now you're just being dramatic."

"What else would you expect from her at this time?" Silver said jokingly.

Marriott pouted at them further, crossing her arms across her chest, and turning away from them. How dare they take so damn long, she was done and ready to go around five minutes, but they still say she has to wait a 'few more minutes'!? She grumbled something unintelligible under her breath, and the three girls giggled and chuckled further.

After those few _tortuous_ minutes, the wait finally came to an end. "Alright, we're all ready I believe!" Silver announced. "Let's get to the auditorium quick!"

Marriott threw her arms up in exasperation. "Finally, you guys took forever!" She exclaimed.

"It took us three minutes." Koel said plainly.

"Felt like three years to me!"

Silver rolled her eyes at the redhead. "Okay, enough whining, we're ready to go, so let's just go already."

* * *

They arrived at the auditorium, seeing several students from Beacon, but also from the other major academies around the world, all of which being first years. They also found Ozpin and Glynda on the stage conversing about something before everything started, just like all of the students on the floor. They walked over to the Beacon side of the room, and after a few minutes of waiting and more students from different academies filing into the room, Glynda found it time to start. "Listen everybody, quiet now!" She said into the microphone over everybody, immediately catching their attention, and the room suddenly went completely quiet as all the students awaited for further word.

As the room went quiet, the blonde professor then stepped aside and away from the microphone, and Ozpin took her place behind it, cane in hand as always, but no coffee, which was a first for probably every student in the room. He cleared his throat before starting. "A long time ago, the Great War was fought. It was a war that was fought for reasons that went beyond where territory stood, what rules were made, and despite the name given, it was anything but great." He subtly shook his head at the final part. "It was a war that was fought for reasons that should be considered trivial, it was fought for the idea of individualism, and for what we thought we should have been, regardless of the birthplace, or past. It was fought for what we thought the word individualism stood for, or rather, what it SHOULD stand for, something that should never be argued over, or fought for."

He looked over the room, and all of its occupants. "Now, over eighty years later, individualism is one of our greatest treasures, and the way we proved this is in the way of our very identities; naming through colors, and because of this, we can both be different, but share the same thing at the same time. We have made peace in this way, and we have found ways to live together, and beside each other. And as huntsmen and huntresses alike, it is our job," He gestured his free hand in a sweeping motion to all the students. "YOUR job to keep this peace."

Around the room, screens appeared, and different types of missions came up on them. "Starting today," Ozpin continued, a small smile starting to appear on his face. "You all will begin your defense of this peace, while shadowing another experienced huntsman or huntress. Some of you will be taken far away, beyond the walls, while others will work inside of them. You will defend in different ways, but will do so to achieve the same thing, and no matter what you choose, just remember to be safe, remember your training, and do you very best." He concluded his speech, walking away from the microphone, and off the stage, the students applauding as they then searched for a mission that will kick-start there careers.

Marriott was practically bouncing… again. "Ooooh this is going to be AWESOME!" She exclaimed. "We get to go on a mission, and do it with another hunter!"

"But what are we going to choose?" Olivia asked.

Silver hummed quietly in contemplation, looking around the room, and observing the screens and the different missions they had, until one caught her eye. "Hey," She addressed her team. "Let's go look at that one over there." She said, pointing over to one screen in particular.

They walked over to the screen. "What about search and rescue?" Silver suggested, directing their attention to the top mission selection.

The mission selection itself said that it was in quadrant 4, but all the description said was 'razed village'.

"A razed village huh?" Olivia said, pondering the choice. "I mean, that's fine with me."

Marriott nodded in agreement. "Yeah, sounds good!" She said, though they were sure she would've agreed with anything they offered. "What about you Koel?"

"Well, I-I guess that's fine. "She said timidly. "Though it seems a little dangerous, don't you think? I mean, if that village was destroyed, you'd think there's a lot of Grimm around."

"Actually Miss Marceleine," a voice behind them spoke, making them, specifically Koel, jump a little, and they turned around to see Ozpin, now with a full mug of coffee in his hand. "That village was attacked a week or so ago, and since then the Grimm activity around that area has gone down dramatically, probably from hunters who came in and cleaned up the area after the attack." He explained, taking a sip of his coffee at the end.

Olivia raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Wait, if that village was attacked a week ago, why is up here as a search and rescue? That's an awfully long time for any survivors after a Grimm attack."

Ozpin nodded. "Indeed, but the village was a rather large one, and we want to know if there is anything salvageable from the destruction, or, by chance, if there are any survivors AROUND the area. You never know." He took another sip of his coffee. "But it is a good mission for first years. It is pretty basic, but it can also be difficult at times, a lot of beginning teams choose this one as their first mission."

Silver thought about it. If many other first year teams before them had chosen this one as their first, she supposed they could follow along with it. "Well, I guess we can go along with the trend as well." Her team nodded in agreement, and then Silver thought of a question of her own. "By the way Professor Ozpin, who is our hunter going to be?"

Ozpin chuckled quietly. "You will find out once you get going, which you better do quickly, because your mission," he gestured to the start time. "Begins ASAP, so there's no time to waste. But I assure you that you will be quite… fond of your instructor. They will meet you at the front doors. Good luck to you four." He said, then walking over to another team it seemed.

The four girls stood a little puzzled at his answer. What did he mean by saying they would be "quite fond" of them? Well they will find out soon enough they supposed, so after making sure they had everything ready for the final time, they walked out and to the front doors, both excited and anxious for what awaited them.

* * *

They walked outside, and immediately noticed all the bullheads, and the students that were either boarding them, just about to board them, or teams that were bidding others farewell as they boarded, but they didn't notice any huntsman or huntress yet.

"Where are they?" Marriott questioned, tapping her foot on the ground repeatedly in impatience. "Professor Ozpin said they'd be here when we came out."

"Y-yeah," Koel concurred. "Our mission starts right away, so I hope they'll be here soon."

"Don't worry, I'm here." A female voice spoke, a voice that sounded _very_ familiar to Silver and Koel, and they turned around to find the source of the voice, and the two sisters quietly gasped. "I'm sorry for the wait, I got a little hung up on talking with Glynda."

"Alex!" Silver and Koel exclaimed in unison, and they ran forward to embrace their older sister.

"You're coming with us?" Silver asked, her red eyes shining with happiness that both Marriott and Olivia had never really seen before from their leader.

Alexandrite nodded, a big smile on her face as she looked down on her younger sisters, and returning the embrace. "Yeah, Ozpin gave me a call that all the first years were going on missions soon, so he gave me the chance to go with you and your team for your first one." She then looked beyond her sisters at the other two girls. "And I assume this is them, correct?"

Silver and Koel broke off from the hug, both smiling brightly. "Yeah," Silver confirmed. "This is my partner Olivia, and that's Koel's partner Marriott." She introduced them.

Alexandrite looked them over, making them a little uncomfortable from the hard gaze coming from her emerald eyes, and the two younger faunus' noticed it as a similar look to the one she gave them from the night they were accepted to Beacon; a kind of 'sizing up the situation' type of look.

But she quickly relented on her fixed look, and offered a friendly smile. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet the ones that will help my little sisters for the next few years. My name is Alexandrite Porcello." She stuck out her hand.

Marriott grinned vividly, stepped forward, and took her hand in a firm shake. "Nice to meet you too!"

Olivia gave off her own smile, albeit a much smaller one, but nonetheless there. "It's my pleasure Alexandrite." She said, shaking her hand as well. Olivia wanted to be as respectful as she could be, she felt bad for treating Silver the way she did at the beginning of the first semester, and she certainly didn't want to go back to that phase, especially someone like their older sister. That would end badly on so many different levels, she was sure of that.

Alexandrite continued smiling for a few more seconds before she looked out towards their bullhead, then she took on a more serious facade as she looked back at them." Alright, well Glynda informed me of the mission you guys chose, and as you would already know for sure, we leave immediately for it. Now, let me just tell you a few things before we get going." She told them, and they nodded, giving the older huntress their full attention. "First thing, this will be your only mission this year for you as first years, but as your time here at Beacon goes on, you will go on more and more missions, and some of which will take far longer than the one we are about to embark on, so for this mission, take it as a learning experience alright? Don't go for perfection, go for experience. Do you understand?" They nodded again, making her smile once more before she continued. "Good, now for the second thing; this particular mission is a dangerous one for beginning teams to go on, but I'm sure Ozpin already told you about that, but when me and my team went on our first mission, we chose this one as well, and… well, let's just say it could have gone better." She said, chuckling bitterly, and rubbing her right hip, making the four wince a little, Silver and Koel from the memory of that day, and the other two from the realization of what she meant. "But," she continued further. "I will be here for you all of you so that won't happen, and I will show and tell you everything else you need to know as we're on the mission. Do you have any questions before we go?"

They all shook their heads, and Alexandrite nodded at them, her smile returning. "Alright then, if that's the case, then let's get going shall we?" She said, walking by them, and to their bullhead. The four huntresses in training smiled at each other, and they followed Alexandrite to the airship that would take them to their first official business as huntresses.

* * *

 **There you have it, team SMOK is going on their first official mission, and Alexandrite, someone who only appeared in the first chapter until now is going with them! Who knows what will happen... besides me of course.**

 **And I will say again here, just like I said up top, thank you guys so much for taking the time to read my story, and thank you to those of you that enjoy it enough to follow, favorite, and review. You guys have no idea how happy all of it makes me!**

 **Anyway, I hope you guys are just as excited for the coming chapters as I am. Favorite, follow, review, and I'll talk to you guys next chapter!  
**


	21. Rosemead

**AWWWWW YEEEEEEE another chapter during the weekend! BOOYA! (I'm never saying that again)**

 **Yes, I was able to finish this chapter tonight, and I am proud of myself for doing so. This chapter serves more as a setup for next chapter, which will definitely be fun to write.**

 **You know what? Screw this author's notes shit! Let's just get straight to the chapter dammit!**

 **(But real quick, fun fact time! This chapter is literally just 20 words longer than last chapter! CONSISTENCY!)**

* * *

"So… Alexandrite," Marriott started as they were currently on their way to their mission. "What was your team when you were at Beacon?"

They had been in flight on the bullhead for a few minutes, and were told that the flight to their destination shouldn't take too long, gods bless them, because they couldn't stand it if Marriott started getting impatient like she did earlier.

Which is actually one of the reasons she asked her leader's and partner's older sister about her time at Beacon, just to take her mind off of things for a while, but she was also genuinely curious about their instructor's involvement at the academy, after hearing a few times before that Alexandrite was one of the best to graduate from Beacon, where just getting IN to Beacon is a big deal by itself, so she genuinely wanted to know more about her.

Marriott did kind of think of herself as a bit of a historian sometimes.

Alexandrite smiled nostalgically. "My team was called team LLAC." (Lilac)

"Were you leader?"

"Where do you think Silver got her leadership skills from?" Alexandrite smirked smugly as she looked over at her youngest sister.

Silver rolled her eyes. "Whatever." She said, but smiled fondly. She couldn't help it when it came to Alex.

The older faunus smiled too, before looking back at the redheaded warrior. "But yes indeed, I was leader."

"What were you teammates like?"

Alexandrite waited a second, looking as if she was trying to find the right words. "They were… very interesting for lack of a better term. My partners name was Lilo, and she… wasn't too fond of faunus', lets say that."

Olivia, who had been simply looking blindly out the window, visibly tensed at that, while Silver groaned a little. Alexandrite raised an eyebrow at them. "Did you two have some issues at first as well?"

The two in question looked uncertainly at each other. They really didn't want to talk about anything having to do with it for a while. "We could say that," Silver answered. "And we could also leave it at that for now too."

The brunette furrowed her brows at that, but decided to indeed leave it there for the time being, and returned to answering Marriott's latest question. "But anyway, Lilo and me had difficulty at first, but we got over it after a while, even though we never were truly comfortable with each other until probably our third year. She also tended to be pretty serious, she was definitely the no nonsense type of person." She chuckled at what she was about to say next. "The other two on the other hand were complete idiots, and really clashed with Lilo sometimes. Their names were Lec and Cooper, and they… loved to have fun, so to say. They were very easy going about a lot of things, and Lilo didn't like that at times, she would even yell at me sometimes because she felt like I wasn't doing a good enough job as leader to 'control them'. But they all were good people when I get right down to it, and I'm glad they were my teammates." She smiled, silently reminiscing in the memories her and her team shared.

Marriott smiled as well. "Do you still go on missions with them."

Alexandrite nodded. "Sometimes, yes. And we still stay in touch very much so." She then looked at the other three girls. "And that's something I hope you all do when you graduate. Make sure to stay in touch with each other, there's no reason why you shouldn't."

They smiled at her quick advice, nodding, and after a few minutes of silence now that Marriott's questions had come to an end, Silver felt it was time to learn anything more about their mission. "So Alex, this village we're going to, what is it called?"

"Rosemead I believe." She answered. "It was attacked and destroyed to the ground by Grimm a little over a week ago."

"What are the chances of finding anybody alive around there?"

Alexandrite winced a bit. "Definitely not high, but I'm sure Ozpin already told you that they also want to know if anything can be recovered from the desolation."

"And the Grimm were cleared out by other hunters, right?"

"Yes, they went in a few days ago, so there should be none around the immediate area, which is really great, 'cause I really don't want any Grimm of any kind to interfere with the mission."

Silver smirked at her. "Afraid that the first years will need to save you?" She teased.

The older girl smirked back. "No, I'm afraid the first-years will need saving."

The banter between the two sisters continued on for a little while afterward, every once in a while dragging the other three into their conversations, until they got the word that they were about to arrive at their landing point, to which Marriott loudly cheered. Alexandrite told them to make sure that they had everything they needed, and after confirming they were ready, they anxiously waited for landing.

* * *

"We're going to go to the village first and check it out," Alexandrite informed the first-year team. "Then we'll check out the area around the village and see if there's anything. Got it?" The four girls nodded.

They had landed a few minutes ago, and they were currently making their way into a forest trail that, supposedly, would lead them straight to the village in question. The reason why the bullhead didn't land closer to the village was that the forest surrounding it was surprisingly dense, and their weren't really any safe landing spots, so they had no choice but to land just outside of the forest, and walk down the trail until they arrived at Rosemead.

They trudged through the forest, and they could easily tell that the place was ravaged by Grimm; everything, even the very air around them, just felt… dead.

It wasn't a very welcome feeling.

They of course didn't expect anything different, but that didn't help the ominous feeling that accompanied them as they walked. They had the feeling that they weren't going to be finding many survivors anywhere.

They went on in relative silence, a very uncomfortable silence at that. They knew that there was almost no chance of any Grimm coming around after the hunters that took care of them a few days ago, but they couldn't help but feel very uneasy. They passed by some trees that had a few claw marks on them, or other trees that were straight up knocked over, and they figured that the sight of these trees meant that they were getting closer and closer to the village.

The forest and trail came to an abrupt end, and as soon as it did, they could see some buildings in the distance. "That's Rosemead, isn't it?" Silver asked.

Alexandrite nodded. "I do believe it is." She said darkly. "I'm going to tell you one more thing before we continue into there; considering this is the sight of a major Grimm attack, and very recently at that, you will see some things that… might stay with you forever." She turned around to face the four. "I know that up until now, I've been making sure you are physically ready, but I need to make sure right now that you are mentally ready. There are things that some people should not see, if they can't handle it. So, are you mentally ready?"

Silver firmly nodded. "Yeah."

Olivia followed suit. "Of course."

Marriott gave an enthusiastic thumbs-up. "I wouldn't be here if I wasn't ready!"

Koel only weakly nodded. "Y-yeah, I-I'm ready."

She didn't exactly sound to convincing, but they knew she wasn't about to run away from them. Koel might be painfully shy and timorous, but she was a deceptively tough girl, and they knew she wasn't going to chicken out on them. This is what she signed up to do, so she was going to will herself to do it, no matter what.

Alexandrite smiled encouragingly. "Alright then, let's go."

As soon as they passed by a sign that said " _Welcome to Rosemead!_ ", their eyes laid upon the true work of Grimm. Collapsed buildings, or buildings that are in the process of collapsing, complete abandonment, no sign of life anywhere. Everything was just… desolated.

They started walking through the barren roads of the once-upon-a-time village. "This is…" Olivia started then stopped, unable to find the proper words.

"Horrible." Marriott finished as best she could.

"The sad part about this is," Alexandrite started gloomily. "As your careers go on, you'll learn to get used to sights like this. I've been to many villages before that had been attacked by Grimm, but never have I been to one like this, one that looks so… devoid of any life."

"Kinda makes you wonder how many Grimm were here." Silver said, looking around at the utter devastation before them.

The brunette sighed. "Anyway, we don't have time to dwell on it, we're here for a mission, so let's get to work." She then took on her leader attitude again. "Silver, Olivia, you two can go search around that side of the street," She pointed over to the left side specifically. "Just go from building to building, and see if you can find anything that is of note, but be careful going in the places that are still standing, some of which look just about ready to fall. Come back to me when you are done, or if you have found anything."

The two partners nodded, and went to their side of the street to start looking for anything. Alexandrite then turned to face the other two. "The three of us will go search this side in the meantime. Just choose a building, or what used to be, and start scanning." Marriott and Koel nodded as well.

It was amazing to the first years the amount of destruction that a single place could go through in but a short time. Ozpin was right when he said that this village was a rather large one, and they could tell that the place was probably pretty active, but this is what could happen when you decide to live outside of the walls, there's virtually no protection whatsoever living out here, so while it must be a nice and simple life for a time, it could turnout like this in the end, and very sudden as well.

The signs of death in the buildings were plainly visible, there was dried blood on the walls, floor, or anything else, and it made their stomachs churn, there were dead bodies every so often that they would come across, but try their hardest to stay away from, and it was especially bad for the faunus' of the group because of their sense of smell, they could easily smell the blood, or the reek of the deceased bodies. The sights of the broken, almost dilapidated buildings and structures made the first year team think about what Alexandrite had said earlier; that they'll learn to get used to sights like this.

They went on searching for anything worthwhile for a bit, but there didn't seem to be anything that could be salvaged from this place. They started to genuinely wonder how many Grimm attacked, just like how Silver mentioned earlier, because to do this kind of damage, and leave nothing alive, it must have been a lot to say the least.

As they went on searching, they were growing used to the grueling surroundings, and things started to get pretty simple… until they heard a high-pitched shriek.

They turned to the source of the shriek to see Koel in the collapsed ruins of a house, staring down wide-eyed at something, a terrified look in her misty eyes, her hands over her mouth, and slowly backing away from whatever scared her. Alexandrite went over to her and looked at what gave her adopted sister such a scare, and she found it in the form of a dismembered forearm, probably one of the… things left behind by the previous owners of the house.

Alexandrite sighed. "That's what I meant earlier." She said, seeming to be unfazed by the sight, and placing a comforting hand on Koel's shoulder.

Koel nodded, slightly leaning into the older faunus' side. "I-I know, i-it's just, I wasn't e-expecting it to be u-under that piece of wood."

Apparently, while Koel was searching the ruins of this house, she had kicked a plank of wood, revealing the dismembered body part. _'Poor girl.'_ Alexandrite thought. "It's okay Koel, let's move on to another house." Koel feebly nodded, and they walked away from the scene.

Meanwhile, Silver and Olivia were trudging through what felt like the hundredth house that was torn to the ground. "This is all so… terrible." Olivia sighed. "Seriously, what are the chances of finding anybody alive here, or around? It feels as though this place has become the very definition of death." She said, then finding a broken picture frame, the picture showing a father, mother, and two kids, all smiling brightly, and it broke Olivia's heart to look back up, and see what has become of the place this family once called home.

Silver nodded. "I know. It's a good thing those hunters took care of the Grimm, or else this place probably would have turned into a nest." Silver didn't like being here, and she knew she wanted to get out of this village as fast as she could, but she also was aware that they still had a lot of ground to cover before they could stop. "Hey Olivia," She called out to the orange-haired knight, who looked over at her with curiosity. "I'm going to go further down the street, try to cover more ground faster."

Olivia nodded. "Alright, I'll continue searching around here."

The pale-haired girl nodded back, and started walking down the road, making sure to alert Alexandrite of what she was doing before she did so, to which her oldest sister approved of, claiming that she wanted to get out of the village as much as she did, and Silver wasn't going to deny that.

She walked down, glancing at the various different buildings, or what used to be, and as she rounded a corner of the road, she started to… hear voices?

Silver stopped where she was, trying to focus on the unfamiliar voices, wherever they were coming from, and after a few seconds, she was sure that she wasn't just hearing things, there were actual voices! _'That's impossible, did someone really survive here!?'_

She jogged down the street, trying to be as quick but quiet as she could, she didn't want to startle whoever was here into running away from her. She got down to the end of the street, and she realized that the voices were coming from around another corner to her left, and she once more focused her hearing on the sounds, this time barely managing a small conversation between what sounded like two people.

"Man, this place was hit _really_ hard, wasn't it? A male voice said.

"Yeah it was, I knew Grimm could do some serious damage obviously, but this is completely off the charts!" Another male voice exclaimed.

' _Well okay, I guess it's safe to say that they aren't survivors from this place, so why are they here?'_ Silver thought, puzzled. There was no way someone would just walk into a place like this on accident, or so she thought at least.

"Opens your eyes doesn't it?"

"Hell yeah, almost makes me feel bad for some of the humans that might have lived here."

"Alright, let's not take it that far."

That bit only served to feed Silver's puzzlement.

"Whatever. But seeing how this place is, I guess it's no wonder Coleen called us in to help out."

Silver's eyes widened considerably. _'Coleen!?'_

Silver swiftly dashed over to the side of a crumpled building that was miraculously still standing, and pinned herself up flat against it, and looked around the corner at the bearers of the voices, and her eyes widened even more if you could believe that.

"Yeah, I guess she and her crew need some help getting the place cleaned up huh?"

"I just wish she didn't want us to be here, I hate it here. But then again, I don't want to be facing the end of her whip, so whatever."

This couldn't be real. How could Coleen be here, and why? But then another question started burning in Silver's mind.

"What are the White Fang doing here!?" She harshly whispered to herself, and much louder than she intended.

"Hold up, did you just here a voice?"

' _Ohhh you GOT to be kidding me right now!'_

"HEY, WHO'S OVER THERE!?" One of the men demanded.

Silver flinched at the shout

"Let's go check it out real quick."

' _Shit!_ 'Silver thought to herself, and she took off running back down the street to her team and Alexandrite. _'Why does trouble always follow wherever I go?'_

* * *

 **Shit is right Silver.**

 **And yes, why does trouble seem to always follow you?**

 **Ohhh man guys, it is about to go down next chapter in so many different ways! I can already tell that next chapter is going to be hell to write, but it will be a lot of fun too! I'm so FIRED UP, we're getting close to the end of the story guys! I'm planning on getting the story done by the end of the month, but we'll see how that goes.**

 **But seriously guys, I've had this part of the story planned out since November, and now I FINALLY get to write it instead of just keeping it bottled up in my head! EEEEE CIRCUIT OVERLOAD!**

 **Alright whatever, enough getting overexcited about it. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, please follow and favorite if you did, and leave a review if you have something to say. Talk to you guys next chapter!**


	22. Blaze

**What's up guys!? I apologize, I meant to upload this yesterday, but unfortunately I was not able to get it all the way done before I had to go to bed (school sucks guys), which was at midnight anyway, so whatever.**

 **But I got it done here, so at least I didn't make myself wait for this weekend to work on the rest of it, which was only around 600 or so words.**

 **Also, I want to thank Nemasis Demarini for their words last chapter, and by the way, I AM a dude, so don't worry about that, though the dudette thing made me laugh a bit, and let me just say this as a little hint here, there are still worse things to come for Silver, but I'm not gonna say how or when. It's kinda funny, I didn't realize I made Silver have the worst luck until last chapter when I was writing the end and it just kinda came to me that I make Silver the unluckiest person in this story, even though I didn't really intend of doing so, but oh well! XD**

 **But I'm not going to blather on much longer, let's get on with the chapter!**

* * *

Silver started running back to her team and instructor, while she tried to wrap her head around what was going on. This made no sense, why would the _White Fang_ be _here_? But what disturbed her the most was the fact that they said were here because Coleen needed them, and Silver dreaded the possibility of encountering her again.

It was also flat-out intimidating to see the Grimm masks the White Fang had. She had never seen them in person, and seeing those masks on people, specifically faunus', people like her, have those damned masks on felt a little more menacing to her than Grimm.

That's something Silver always wondered about when it came to the White Fang, why they would choose the mask of a _monster_. They had always said they are fighting for equality, to not be treated like animals anymore, but if that was the case, why would you dress up as a monster. Wouldn't that just further prove people's opinions correct by default?

She was almost to the corner of the street that would lead her back to her team, but as she just about got to it, she felt something suddenly wrap around her legs. She fell to the ground, looking down to see a very familiar looking whip winded around her ankles. _'Oh you've got to be kidding…'_

"Hmm, quite odd finding you here of all places." A voice spoke, and Silver looked to the source, finding it to be the very person she dreaded laying her eyes upon again.

A snarl came to Silver's face. "Coleen…"

The wolf faunus had an unreadable, emotionless expression, though Silver could see a slight bit of curiosity in her ashy eyes. "Indeed. Now…" She trailed off, suddenly jerking her hand that possessed the whip that was still wrapped around Silver's legs, and roughly pulled the fallen cat faunus toward her across the ground, Silver gasping at the sudden action. She came to a stop right in front of Coleen, the wolf faunus slightly leaning down to look her in her eyes. "What are _you_ doing in a place like _this_? Something tells me you didn't just get lost randomly."

Silver glared up at her. "How about I ask you the same question?"

Coleen narrowed her eyes, then quickly, and roughly, grabbed Silver by her shoulder, and turned her over, so that Silver's back was now to her as she laid on the ground front-first. Silver gasped at this sudden action as well, and Coleen harshly placed her boot on her back, keeping her from moving. The whip-user leaned down further toward her, adding more pressure to Silver's back. "How about you answer my question before you think about doing anything else." She said in a dangerous whisper.

Silver grunted at the pressure against her, struggling against it, but a voice from down the road caught their attention. "Silver? Is that you?" The slightly deep feminine voice asked, and the bearer of it rounded the corner, revealing a certain orange-haired knight. "Silver…" She trailed off, catching sight of the faunus', and as soon as she saw them, her eyes widened, and a sharp gasp left her at the sight of seeing her partner pushed against the ground. "Silver! W-what's goi-"

"Olivia!" Silver shouted at her, grunting again as Coleen added more pressure to her back. "Just get the others, quickly!" She ordered, and Olivia nodded, running back down the road to their team and instructor.

"Ohh great," Silver heard Coleen sigh. "You brought friends. Lovely." She said with bitter sarcasm.

Silver saw that she momentarily had let her guard down, and took advantage by moving her left arm to the wolf faunus' leg that was not pushing down on her, grabbing her ankle, and pulling, making Coleen lose her balance, and stumble back as she tried to regain her equilibrium.

As soon as Silver felt the harsh pressure come off of her back, she quickly turned back over, trying to unwind the whip from her legs. After successfully doing so, she jumped back up, and shuffled away from Coleen, who had just now regained her balance.

The redheaded faunus scowled at Silver, and picked her whip back up after dropping it when she stumbled. "Something tells me you're going to be a major thorn in my side. We'll need to do something about that," she cracked her whip. "Starting now."

"I WON'T ALLOW IT!" A shout sounded, and some sort of blast of energy came surging past them, catching them both off-guard, and barely missing Coleen as it went by. They looked down the road to see where it and the shout came from, and Silver smiled as she saw Alexandrite holding up her weapon, and a burning glare in her eyes. "NOW GET AWAY FROM MY SISTER!"

Alexandrite's weapon was a sword she named Catharsis. The handle was black with silver streaks, but the blade itself was what caught everyone's attention; the blade was currently glowing a bright red. Alexandrite had managed to combine her semblance with her weapon in a sort of way, making it so that she could do several different things depending on her emotions, which was basically what her semblance was; depending on her emotion at a given time, she could do several different things, and her emotions would give Catharsis a color showing what her current emotion was, which, as previously stated, was a bright red, showing that Alexandrite was… pretty mad to say the least, and when she was really angry, her semblance would give her more raw power, which she felt would come in handy right about now. She could shoot energy blasts when she was mad, and the angrier she got, the more powerful they became.

Behind Alexandrite was the rest of team SMOK, who had their own weapons out, ready to do battle as well.

Silver smirked back at Coleen, who, despite the evident trouble, had a completely unreadable expression. "Hmm, this could be a problem." Coleen murmured, surprisingly calm. She reached into her pocket, pulling out a red dust crystal. She dropped it on the ground, then started to back up, pointing the bottom of her whip, and shooting out a bullet infused with burn dust at the crystal. Silver gasped, jumping back from the blast as the bullet hit the crystal, immediately causing it explode in the middle of the road. Silver shielded herself from the blast, hunching down slightly, and bringing her arms up over face. When she removed her arms, she saw the part of the road that had blown up in flames.

' _Huh, so apparently she can shoot from her whip.'_ She thought, mentally noting this. She heard running behind her and she didn't need to turn around to see who it all was.

"Silver!" Alexandrite shouted as the four got to the youngest girl. "Are you okay!? You're not hurt right!?" She started quickly checking over her youngest sister.

Silver waved off her concern. "I'm fine Alex, just a little scuffed." She reassured with a smile.

"Who was that Silver?" Marriott asked, her halberd still in her hands.

"W-was that… Coleen?" Koel asked, hazily recalling the look of the woman from a few weeks ago in Vale.

Silver sighed. "Yeah, that was Coleen."

Alexandrite raised an eyebrow questioningly. "You _know_ who she is?"

The platinum-haired leader bitterly nodded, grimacing slightly. "Yes, she robbed, or rather tried to rob a store in Vale a few weeks ago, but I got in the way, though it didn't exactly end too well for me either."

Olivia shook her head, closing her eyes in wonder. "Why would she be here though?" She questioned. What significance could this place hold to her?"

"That's probably what she was wondering when she saw us." Marriott said.

"She's not the only one here though," Silver disclosed, gaining some curious looks from her companions. "The freaking White Fang are here too."

Their eyes widened. "What!?" The exclaimed.

Silver nodded even more bitterly. "I'm serious, there were two of them back there, I don't know where they went, but they said they were here _because_ Coleen called them here. Something about cleaning the place up or whatever."

Alexandrite nodded in understanding. "If the White Fang are here, that's bad already. But if that woman, or Coleen, or whatever her name is, can _call_ them here for herself, that does not bode well at all for any of us."

"W-what should we d-do then?" Koel asked, scratching her arm nervously.

Alexandrite closed her eyes in thought. "If the White Fang are here, I think we should get out of here now. As much as I would like to find out why the White Fang are here, and make that Coleen pay for harassing you Silver, that's not what we're here for, so I think it's smart if we just get out of here as quickly and quietly as we can."

The young first-years nodded at her. "So just go back through the forest then?" Olivia asked for clarification.

The more experienced huntress nodded. "Yeah, I can call for a bullhead, it's best we don't stick around here much longer. The only issue is that it might take a day or so for one to get out here because of all the teams leaving for their missions, so we'll have to go through the night, but we would've had to anyway."

"Can we just go already?" Koel whined. "I don't want to stay here any longer, I have a bad feeling about this."

The brunette put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Yeah we can go now." Alexandrite looked at the other three. "Now, come quickly, it's almost sunset, and we don't want to gain too much attention out here, lest someone follow us through the forest."

They then made their way back through the village, making for the same forest they went through to get to the village in the first place, but what they didn't notice was a member of the White Fang watching them leave from the ruins of a house, and as soon as they were reaching the forest, he ran out of used-to-be house, intending to report a certain redheaded faunus where they were going.

* * *

Coleen walked through the streets of the village with a hard scowl on her face. That Silver… well at least she really knew her name now, but this was the second time she had shown up out of practically nowhere and got in her way. Why would she even BE here, with four other people no less!? She would have to do something about her soon before she got in the way of anything else she had planned.

Speaking of which…

"Coleen!" Someone called to her from behind, and she turned around to see a male bear faunus who was with the White Fang approaching her.

Coleen narrowed her eyes at him. "Yes? What is it?" She demanded.

The bear faunus seemed unfazed despite her harsh tone. "I saw those five girls leave, they went out into the forest. Said they were going to have to camp out there for the night."

To say that this made Coleen lighten up a little would have been correct. "Really now?" A smirk came to her face. "Good to know." She turned back around to start walking again.

The bear faunus followed behind her, and took on a more concerned look and tone. "Umm, Coleen, may I ask a question?"

Coleen gave him a sideways glance. "Well you kind of just did, but I'm guessing that wasn't the real question. Go ahead."

"That cat faunus… the one with black hair… I-is she the one that…?" He trailed off, he was sure that Coleen knew the rest of what he was going to ask.

Coleen looked back down the road they were walking, her smirk disappearing, and not responding for a few seconds until they reached one destroyed house in particular, and once they stopped at it, she nodded. "Indeed… she is."

"S-so, are we going to do anything about her? Do you have anything planned?"

Coleen smirked yet again, an inimical look in her ashy gray eyes. "I do. If they're having to camp out tonight, we can go hunt them back down, and we'll go from there." You could hear the injurious intent in her voice as she spoke.

The man nodded. "The brunette faunus said that she would call for a bullhead though."

Coleen chuckled at that. "Oh please, do you honestly think they're going to get a signal out here?" She sneered. "They would have to get a far ways out of the forest to do so, and going through there at night is very difficult, even for faunus', so they will have almost no choice but to camp out."

She turned to walk into the razed house, and in the back was a metal hatch on the ground. "So I guess we're aiming at getting her back then, correct? Or rather, you are, more like?" The bear faunus asked, following her to the hatch.

The wolf faunus nodded. "Yes, and I know of the perfect way to get her too." She opened the hatch, revealing a hole and ladder that went down about ten feet. "And this time, her parents won't be around to save her… she won't be getting away from me again." She said maliciously, then jumped down the hole, the bear faunus following her down.

* * *

 **Well... at least Silver got away from Coleen without getting hurt this time, right?**

 **Next chapter... ugh that is going to be one hell of a piece of shit to write, it's probably going to end up being much longer than this chapter, maybe even one of the longest of the story, but I guess that's to be expected considering we're getting damn close to the end here. (I'm so excited, even though I've said that for the past like three chapters, but I don't care, I'm so excited!)**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, if you did, give this story a follow or favorite, and if you have anything to say, leave a review, reading them makes me a lot happier than they really should, but I don't care, I love reading them! I'll talk to you guys next chapter!**


	23. In the Shadow

**YES, NEW CHAPTER AT LAST! Ugh, what if I told you guys I got sick while I was in the middle of writing this, would you believe me? Oh... my... GOD, I might or might now have gotten the bug that might be going around my school, I'm not sure, I REALLY hope I didn't, or else these next few days are really going to suck majorly.**

 **But enough of that, let me just say that this chapter isn't QUITE as long as I anticipated originally, but I can guarantee you that the next chapter will be... well, pretty long I think, but we'll see.**

 **Oh yeah, if you guys read that update last week, you will also know that next chapter is also the FINALE! YEEEEEE! I'm so excited, even if it will be utter hell to write I'm sure, it's going to be awesome (I HOPE)!**

 **Anyway, enough author's notes, let's just move on to the penultimate chapter 22!**

* * *

"I-it's really dark." Koel said, glancing around at the rapidly darkening forest around them.

Alexandrite hummed in agreement as she lead the four younger girls through the forest that was indeed rapidly blackening. They couldn't exactly tell because they could not even see the sky very well due to the branches that hung high over their heads from the hundreds of trees that were packed tightly around each other, but it seemed like the sun had officially gone down. Alexandrite didn't want to admit it, but she was really starting to going low on visibility right about now, and it baffled her that the sheer amount of darkness in one place was even _possible_ in the world, but hey, the more you know, right?

The denseness of the forest was just as amazing, and the reason why she, and the others behind her, were having such difficulty going through this place, the overhanging branches above them cut out much of the light from the sky, and the closeness of the trees made it exceptionally onerous to look into the forest itself, and she knew her sisters were having the same issue behind her. Just imagine if it were just Olivia and Marriott in this place, that would be horrible, because they might have already lost all visibility around them, so the only way they could make their way through here was staying as close as they could to their partners and their instructor.

"I agree," Alexandrite said in response to Koel's statement. "We won't be able to get much further here. We better start trying to find a place where we could set up camp or something."

Marriott scoffed. "You're going to have to do that, I can't see more than three feet in front of me, and I'm sure Olivia is the same way. If we find a place, I won't know it until we are actually setting foot in said place."

The brunette faunus chuckled. "Well, if I remember correctly, we past through a brief clearing on our way to Rosemead, so maybe we'll find it soon, and once we do, we could set up there."

The four nodded, not bothering to think of anything else, they trusted Alexandrite and what she was thinking.

They walked for a few more minutes before they finally came upon what looked like the clearing that the older faunus spoke of, of course the three faunus' could see actually see it from a short distance, while the other two couldn't see it at all until they were there, just like Marriott had said. "We're here, this is the clearing!" Alexandrite announced, the four younger girls sighing in relief. "Now we can get a little makeshift camp ready."

 **(A/N I haven't mentioned it yet, but they do have backpacks that have some stuff for a camp. To be honest, I kinda forgot to mention that they did… whoops.)**

"Now here's how we're going to do things," Alexandrite started as they were getting started on their camp. "We're going to take turns on watch duty, someone has to be watching over the camp at all times, just in case something happens. I'll watch first, so you all can figure out the order from there, okay?" They all nodded, and started negotiating on the topic as they continued to set up.

At some point while they were setting up, Alexandrite also wanted to test if there could be a signal out where they were, though she, and the other four highly doubted it, and their doubts were proven correct as she got a message over the screen of her scroll with big, flashing letters saying _'NO SIGNAL'_. "Dam it all!" She hissed at the message. "Oh well, it's what we expected, so we'll just have to get out of the forest tomorrow and get a bullhead out here then." With that, they continued with their work.

* * *

' _Uuuuughhh… this is what being a huntress is all about.'_ Was the bored-our-of-her-mind thought from Silver as she sat up against a tree surrounding the small clearing. It was her turn to keep watch over their makeshift campsite, well… that's at least what they decided to call it. Their order of keeping watch was Alexandrite first, Marriott second, Silver third, Olivia fourth, then Koel last, and currently, around one in the morning, Silver was stuck sitting around, just 'keeping watch' over the area for the next few hours until it was time to wake Olivia, and subject her to the amazing boredom that went with watch duty. _'I got some serious first world problems, don't I?'_

She didn't really have anything to keep her company, and she figured that when it came to watch duty, that was probably more of a good thing than anything else, but right now, Silver felt that it would be amazing if she didn't fall asleep again. There was just NOTHING she could do, she couldn't even train herself a little right now because she was sure she would find a way to wake everyone else up. So she just decided to take in the scenery… or lack there of really. Just trees… and trees… and trees. She had to admit however, looking into the forest made her feel slightly uneasy. It was just so difficult to see through the trees, it felt as though anything could be hiding out there and she would have almost no way of noticing until she heard something out of the ordinary, which is how she figured she was going to 'keep watch', with less use of her sight, and more of her sense of hearing.

She looked around, searching for something that could keep her attention for more than 2 seconds – if THAT – and she doesn't exactly know how or why, but her eyes landed on the sleeping form of her orange-haired partner, and for whatever reason, she couldn't take her eyes off of her, as creepy as she felt about that. She just looked so peaceful, something that Silver really liked witnessing. It was a sharp contrast to the Olivia she knew earlier in the year, when she would always receive glares and silence from her for anything she did. Silver was infinitely grateful for them being able to work things out eventually.

As Silver looked her partner over, she started to notice some things about her, mainly the fact that Olivia was currently sleeping with her armor STILL on, something that Silver would probably never be able to figure HOW she is doing so, and as comfortably as she is for that matter, but she also was getting the first chance to really admire her for the first time. She couldn't help but smile a little at the sight of the knight sleeping so peacefully. Silver had to go as far to say she actually looked pretty cute this way, her breathing as even as it could be, and her mouth just slightly parted in silent breaths. Olivia really was a beautiful person in Silver's eyes, and she was sure she wasn't alone in thinking so. _'If she wasn't so serious all the time, she could probably get her way with anybody if she wanted to.'_

Silver shook her head. That… was quite a random thought for sure. _'Why did I think that? Ugh, this boredom must really be getting to me.'_

Silver felt her legs starting to fall asleep, so she decided to get up from her sitting position against the tree, and just lean her back against it as she stood. _'My legs aren't the only things falling asleep here.'_

As she leaned against the tree, her thoughts started to revert back to her partner for reasons she couldn't explain, but now that she started thinking about her, she couldn't seem to take her thoughts off of her. She started to think about her fighting style, how graceful she looked with her sword, but how strong her thrusts, stabs, and slashes were, and also how fast she was. It was hard to imagine that someone with a sword and armor like hers would be as fast as she is, and that's probably a reason why she could fight so well, her opponents probably underestimate her because of that, holding her up to a stereotype that fighters like her fall into sometimes, even though she's really anything but.

It amazed Silver that anyone could really underestimate Olivia, because a mistake like that could be fatal if they weren't careful. She always enjoyed watching her partner spar, especially in Goodwitch's class, because she could get paired up with someone from another team, and show herself off a little bit. _'I bet a spar between her and Blake would be amazing to watch.'_

Silver by this point knew it was best to stay out of Olivia's way, and respect her abilities, both with a sword in her hands, or without. Even though she wasn't on Silver's level when it came to hand-to-hand combat, she wasn't supposed to be taken lightly, she at least knew what she was doing. She was strong enough to get a few good shots in, and quick enough to back her way out of trouble when needed, which is something else Silver began to admire her for, she was really smart, and she knew what was best at any given situation, she wouldn't put herself in any dangerous situation when she didn't need to.

When Silver thought about her like this, she started finding a few different words she could associate with her partner; strong, graceful, smart, beautiful- _dammit!_ There's _that_ word again. _'I really need something else to take my mind off of her already. I'm starting to go insane and I still have a couple more hours to go!'_

As if on cue, she heard something out of the ordinary coming from the forest, her ears perking straight up at the sound. Her head snapped in the direction that the sound came from. It sounded like someone, or something was rustling the branches of some trees she couldn't see. Not seeing anything in the pitch black surroundings of the forest made Silver very uneasy and on edge, and she couldn't pass it off as the wind or anything, because there was pretty much _none_ , it was a completely still night, which made things all the more eerie for her.

She waited for a second before truly reacting in any noticeable way aside from just moving her head, just to make sure that the sound was real, and not just her imagination playing tricks on her, like she was kind of expecting. She had been sitting – now _standing –_ doing absolutely nothing.

But that wasn't the case, because a few seconds of a disconcerting silence, she heard it again, like something was messing with the branches of some unseen trees, and Silver didn't like it, though it seems she at least go her wish of something taking her mind off of Olivia, because she had now completely forgotten about what she was thinking about, now her undivided attention was on focusing on the strange sounds around her.

She heard it again, and it sounded just a _little_ closer now, but not by much, and Silver now was absolutely _positive_ she wasn't just going insane and hearing things, whatever that is was _real_ , and it didn't seem like it had any serious intention of keeping stealthy, though when you're hiding in a forest as dense and dark as this one, you didn't really need to worry about being seen at night.

Silver now had a choice to make; go out and check on the sound herself, just make sure it wasn't a threat of any kind, or she could wake up her team and instructor so they could search it together, but risk interrupting their much needed rest for nothing if whatever it was is not a threat at all. For all she knew, it might be some stupid bird flying from branch to branch, trying to find the best spot for a new nest or something, but either way, it had to be checked out so she could be sure it was one or the other.

She thought about it, hearing the sounds a couple more times before she ultimately decided on the former, if anything was really there that was a threat of some kind, she could run back real quick to alert her companions, she would just have to be _real_ cautious.

…this would turn out to be a horrible decision, little did she know.

She readied herself, taking a couple deep breaths, before she slowly and quietly made her way out of the clearing in the forest and in the direction of the ominous sounds.

Silver knew this was probably a bad decision she made, she could have at least woken up _somebody_ , but she didn't want to disturb them if these sounds were no threat to them.

As she continued to slowly trek across the trail, she heard the sounds getting quieter, but happening less frequently, like whatever was here knew she was coming, and wanted to suddenly stop whatever it was doing, something that Silver didn't know how to take.

She walked for about five minutes before the sounds completely stopped leaving her completely to the baleful silence. She stopped herself, waiting for another sound, but when there was none, she started to back away from her spot, keeping herself looking forward just in case there was something else to disturb the silence, but there wasn't any, so she decided to turn back completely to head back to their camp.

But as she started to do so, she saw something that definitely should _not_ have been there at all; a human shaped shadow from the trees, darting from behind one to another, and Silver felt an unwelcome chill go up, then back down her spine.

She immediately stopped herself again, looking into the very limited visibility interior of the forest, searching for the figure again, but as she was doing so, she heard more movement somewhere behind her, something she hadn't noticed until now. _'There's TWO of them!?'_

She heard the figures moving closer to her, and she started to backpedal to camp, her arms up in self-defense, ready to activate Azurewrath, while keeping her eyes on the path in front of her so she could see the shadows. _'I got to get back, this is the White Fang!'_

Considering there were no other signs of life from the village of Rosemead, there was no other explanation for who these guys were.

She heard the figure on her left get exceptionally close to her, and his shadow became almost entirely visible to the point that she could actually see the white Grimm mask on his face. She activated her wrist blades, ready for him to charge her, but in doing so, she left herself wide open for the other man to her right as she heard him run after her. She gasped as she saw the mans burly figure emerge from the shadows.

Silver stumbled back in surprise at the mans quickness, but before she could go to far, she felt a pair of hands harshly grab her arms. "Hey! Let me go! Let me-MMPH!" She was cutoff by what felt like a warm and wet towel shoved against her mouth by the man from her right, who she could see now was a ram faunus.

The ram faunus blankly stared at her as he held the object against Silver's mouth. "Plain and simple cat, you're coming with us. Coleen demands it."

Silver continued to struggle with wide eyes, but she quickly started to feel her consciousness leaving as the towel practically suffocated her. She lasted only a few more seconds before her eyelids came completely down, and she went limp.

* * *

Silver felt herself being carried over what felt like someone's shoulder, and also feeling incredibly weak. She opened one of her eyes to a hazy and blurry vision, not being able to pinpoint where exactly she was.

She blacked out again for a short time before she opened her eyes again to another hazy and blurry sight, this time seeing crumpled buildings around her, and then everything went black once more.

"Good job boys." Silver heard a fuzzy sounding voice, and she felt that whoever was carrying her had come to a stop. "Just set her over there."

She started moving again, then felt herself get roughly dropped onto the ground on her behind, and her full consciousness began to suddenly come back to her thanks to the impact with the hard ground. Silver shook her head to get the fuzzy feeling out of her head, and she felt her back resting against a wall of some sort.

She brought her head up, and opened her eyes as full as she could, and looked around, finding herself in what looked like a broken down house, and she immediately figured out where she was. _'I'm back in Rosemead?"_

She also saw three figures standing in front of her, and she could almost make out the closest one… "Hey there kitten."

She heard that infuriating voice, and she knew who it was instantly. Her eyes widened at the sound of said infuriating voice, and her vision finally cleared up seconds later…

"Coleen!"

The redhead smirked. "Indeed."

Silver glared up at Coleen with all her might as she sat helplessly against the wall, as the wolf faunus smirked maliciously at her, while two White Fang stood a couple steps behind her, which she assumed were the ones who had kidnapped.

Coleen leaned down slightly, looking straight into Silver's eyes with her own, a malign look in the ashy gray orbs clear as the fire she spawned when they encountered each other in the village. "Oh sweetie, didn't your parents ever tell you to stay out of other people's business?" She brought her index finger up and to the side of Silver's jaw, slowly sliding it across, the cat faunus flinching at the contact. "I suppose we'll just have to teach you now." Her finger dragged itself to to Silver's chin. "Better late than ever I guess." She chuckled darkly.

Silver's ears pinned themselves back against her scalp, and she growled in the back of her throat as menacingly as she could manage, and she snapped her head to the finger resting on her chin, trying to bite it, but Coleen snatched it back before she could do so, and she backed up a couple steps, laughing mockingly. "Nice try." She said condescendingly, and Silver felt more small than she ever had before in that moment. Coleen noticed her deflated demeanor, and she cooed in a faux sympathy. "Ohh, are we feeling a little down? Don't worry, we just need your help for something, and then you can go."

This made Silver raise a questioning look at the redheaded fiend, but it also made a feeling of trepidation bubble in her stomach. If people like _Coleen_ were saying that they 'needed' her for something, it literally would be anything other than good for herself. "But for you to help us, we need you to act willingly, and considering you just tried to bite my finger off, I highly doubt you will." Silver scoffed at her, giving a 'no shit Sherlock' look. "So, we'll just need to make you I suppose." Coleen looked behind her to one of the White Fang members that kidnapped Silver. "Reggie, would you like to give our guest here a… light anesthetic?" She asked, handing her whip over to the ram faunus.

Reggie nodded, a smirk coming to his face. "With pleasure." He said as he took the whip.

Silver's eyes widened. She _knew_ what was coming next, and she couldn't do anything about it. She glared at Coleen again, this one much less dangerous looking than her last, and her cat ears flattened even more against her head, almost to the point that you couldn't even see them as they blended in with her hair. "I fucking hate you." She weakly managed in the wolf faunus' direction, which was the last thing she said before the man launched the handle of the whip at the temple of her head, knocking Silver out almost immediately.

' _Why does this world hate me?'_

* * *

"Alex, wake up!" Koel quietly shouted at her older sister, shaking her slightly.

Alexandrite groaned as she slowly opened her eyes to see the distressed look of Koel. "Koel? What's wrong?" She weakly asked, rubbing her eyes.

Koel breathed heavily for a second, then took a few seconds to catch her breath. "S-Silver's _gone_!"

The older faunus shook her head, trying to get the cobwebs out. "Silver's g-gone…? W-wait WHAT!?" She exclaimed, suddenly very awake now, as she jolted up from her laying position, almost falling back down again in her haste. "What do you mean she's GONE?!"

The raven-haired girl winced at her older sister's uncharacteristic loudness, and they heard Marriott groan as she stirred from slumber. "What's all the noise about?" She croaked, and Olivia followed suit in waking up just seconds after.

Koel returned her attention to her older sister. "What else could I mean by gone?" She rhetorically questioned.

"Who's gone?" Olivia asked, stretching her limbs.

Koel looked back at the orange-haired knight. "Silver is!" She quickly checked her scroll for the time. "She was supposed to wake you up around three, but it's almost _six_ , and I have no idea where she is!"

Both Marriott and Olivia were fully awake now, looking at each other worriedly. "… do you think the White Fang came by last night?" Marriott questioned.

Koel shook her head. "I-I don't know, all I know is that she's not here at all."

Alexandrite stood up, walking over a couple steps to her sword which laid on her backpack. "We better go find her then. No one takes MY sister, EITHER of them, without getting paid back tenfold!" She declared, handing Koel's pouch that carried her daggers. "Come on, we're going out to find her now!"

Marriott and Olivia quickly got up and took their own weapons. "So where are we going first?" Marriott asked as Alexandrite started to almost speed-walk out of the clearing, the other four having to play catch-up briefly with her.

"Rosemead," The brunette answered hastily. "That's the only place I can think to look right now."

* * *

 **... was it worth the wait!? Did I do a good job!? For the love of God I hope so!**

 **Ohhhh Silver, you're just having all kinds of issues now, aren't you? You have got to be the most unlucky person in the world of Remnant!**

 **By the way, great guess there Marriott.**

 **... okay enough of that, seriously, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and I hope you guys will enjoy the finale next time! If you have something to say, leave a review, and if you enjoyed this chapter, and story, leave a follow or a favorite, and I'll talk to you guys next time!**


	24. Erase My Scars-Finale (P1)

**So let me just cut all the bullshit out here, and tell you as it is. Even though I have said that this would be the final chapter, unfortunately this just took so long for me to write for various different reasons, that if I wanted to get this out any time soon before midterms, I needed to do it now, so I'm splitting the finale chapter up into 2 separate parts, and take that as you will, but this chapter did end up being pretty long by itself, almost 6000 words to be exact, which is definitely my longest chapter in a while, so hopefully that is still a good enough bit of content for you guys.**

 **And also, at least you guys will technically get one more chapter, and decently soon too, because I already have some of what will be the second part written out, so there's that, but I'm sorry for the inconvenience, if you consider it that, but we'll just have to settle for the real ending to be next time, which hopefully won't take too long, nor do I hope I will have as many problems with writing it, or with personal life getting in the way. Anyway, on with the show!**

* * *

Silver groaned as she started to stir from unconsciousness, and the first thing she realized was the major headache coming from the right side of her head.

The second thing she noticed was that she seemed to already be standing despite not yet making an effort to do so.

This led to the third thing, which was the feeling of something rounded and cold surrounding her wrists, keeping them against the wall that she felt she had her back against, and at head level, and keeping them there. She started to crack her eyes open, and she was immediately greeted with complete darkness around her, which caught her slightly off guard.

She blinked a few times, and once her eyes adjusted, she could see she was just in an empty room with no lights, or anything else in it. She looked to her sides to see her wrists had seemed to be shackled against the wall, held by metal cuffs. She sighed at her horrendous luck of the situation, and she felt ashamed of herself. On her FIRST mission as a huntress going to Beacon, she got freaking captured. She might as well of just put her whole family's name to shame with this.

Although, how was she supposed to know that this place was going to hold Coleen of all people, or the White Fang? That seemed a little unfair to her, but that didn't seem to matter to the gods that looked down on her, who didn't seem to really like her at the moment.

She knew there was nothing she could do at the moment other than wait for something to happen, or for someone to come, or both. She thought about her team, and what they might be doing right now. For all she knew it could still be early enough in the morning that they haven't even woken up yet, either that or they woke up hours ago, and are looking for her right now.

That led to her next thought, something that really concerned her. Where was she exactly? She remembered being taken to Rosemead, then being promptly knocked back out again, and now she's woken back up, but where is she exactly? For all she knew, they could have taken her to some place away from the village, with Rosemead just acting as some rendezvous point of sorts.

This then led to her very next thought, something that concerned her equally as much. Was her team currently looking for her? She knew that they would eventually, or at the very least Koel and Alexandrite would, those two would do practically do anything for her in certain situations. Silver remembered one day she said to Alexandrite that if she tried to hang herself, Alexandrite or Koel would throw themselves into the noose to stop her, something that they didn't bother to decline, but instead actually agreed with.

While Silver was beyond happy to have two sisters that loved and cared for her as much as they do, it worried her all the same, because one day that overprotective nature could be their downfall, something that Silver couldn't bear to deal with if they really got themselves seriously hurt, or worse, for her, but at the same time, she knew they would do it regardless, they had even told her themselves, so she figured the best thing she could do was just do whatever she could to not give them a reason to protect like that.

Though at the moment, she wasn't doing such a good job, was she?

She brought herself back to the present situation at hand, and that was the fact that she was currently being sequestered in a very dark, empty room that is in gods-knows-where, and she had no means of escape, because when she looked over at her wrists to see the metal cuffs, she noticed she didn't have Azurewrath with her, so she currently had no means of escape.

So instead of trying to do so, she did the first thing that came to her mind…

"HEY! IS ANYONE THERE!?"

And that thing was to shout out at the top of her lungs. Hey, she might get someone to come in the room, and she could get some answers if they do.

She waited a few seconds in complete silence, and for a second she thought that no one actually heard her, but when she was about to try again, she heard footsteps start to approach the door to her room.

The footsteps grew in volume until they stopped right in front of the door, and after a couple moments of more silence, the door started to slowly open.

"I see you're awake now, little kitten."

* * *

"Where are we going to look?" Olivia asked as she, Marriott, and Koel followed Alexandrite back to Rosemead, or at least tried, but it ended up being more of a game of catch-up with the older faunus. "How can we be sure they're actually in Rosemead? There aren't exactly a lot places to hide there anymore, so would they really be there?"

Olivia did bring up a good point, there really weren't many places to go, and while that would probably make their search somewhat easier, it could also make it a little more complicated, because if whoever took Silver (it really didn't take them too much thought to think of who more than likely did) weren't in the village, where could they go afterward? As far as they knew, there wasn't much around the village beside forest. They didn't know of any structures around the vicinity, on-ground or under, so it will be a lot more than just a serious problem if they can't get some kind of lead.

"We'll look in places we haven't already seen," Alexandrite answered without looking back at them. "At the very least, we should get some kind of lead to her."

"A little less pessimism wouldn't hurt Olivia." Marriott lightly chided, a rare seriousness in her voice. "We don't need to think about different problems until they actually surface."

Olivia gave her a sideways glance, but didn't say anything back, instead she opted to merely sigh and nod. Marriott was right, they didn't need to create more problems for themselves to get stuck on, that would only slow them down, and they didn't yet know if time was something they would have to worry about.

They were nearing the village, going the same way they did the day before, though much quicker. The sun had just begun to rise over the horizon, making the sky above them what would have been a beautiful mixture of dark blue and orange, though they couldn't really see it through the branches overhead, and even if they could see it, they wouldn't really care that much, for obvious reasons.

Out of all of them, there was one that had hardly made a sound at all, and that was Koel. They expected her to be the quietest, she was practically all the time anyway, but something was different about this particular reticent behavior, and part of this was that even her own steps were almost completely noiseless, yet she was walking directly behind Alexandrite's own pace.

As already stated, they expected her to be the most silent, but this was a whole new level of silence she was achieving at the moment, and they just figured that it was because she was obviously concerned about Silver, which she clearly was, but little did they know that there was really something else occupying her thoughts that kept her especially reserved currently, and it was that she suddenly couldn't keep her thoughts from going to that wolf faunus, Coleen. That name just sounded so… _familiar_ to her for whatever reason. Her name just came to her so naturally, and practically without thought, and it just _stuck_ there with her, not leaving her alone. Of course, she couldn't recall anything from her early childhood, and she was sure that she had never met someone named Coleen since she was adopted, so maybe this was some kind of hint to her early past perhaps.

' _Now that I really think about it, Rosemead also seems somewhat familiar… am I just going crazy or something?'_ She thought, getting herself even more confused about her current mental predicament. She didn't know why all this just jumped out to her, but there was just something about Coleen, about the village, hell, there was something about the _White Fang_ themselves that seemed so familiar to her. She didn't know if this was maybe something about her past, or if she really was going crazy, but she found herself wanting to know more than ever.

The sight of Rosemead from out of the forest retook her attention from the recesses of her mind, and she saw Alexandrite slightly quicken her pace even more. "Alright," she started, turning her head halfway to look at Olivia and Marriott out of the corner of her eye. "Let's go find your leader," she then looked at Koel, and offered a small smile. "And let's go find our sister."

* * *

When the door had fully opened, Coleen could be seen standing in the doorway, a light from whatever hallway she came from to get to this room casting a shadow over her, and she walked into the room and towards Silver without bothering to close the door, that seemingly everlasting smirk on her face as she strutted through. "You look a bit lonely here, all by yourself. You want me to keep you some company?"

Silver snarled, narrowing her crimson eyes in an intense glare, and barring her teeth, making her sharp fangs visible. "What do you want with me?! Where am I!?" She demanded loudly.

Coleen chuckled, slowly advancing again. "I should take that as a maybe?" She sarcastically asked, earning a low growl from the cat faunus, something that Coleen found very satisfying. "As for your questions, I'll go ahead and answer your first." She once again stopped, this time just a few short feet from Silver. "I want some information from you, some that I am sure you won't be willing to give up, but I'll still try anyway."

Silver kept her eyes narrowed at her, but they ended up looking much more curious than menacing like she intended. "Information?" She repeated questioningly. "What kind of 'information' could I give you about anything?"

Coleen's smirk fell, and she suddenly looked about as cold as her voice sounded, almost emotionless, but a very intense look in her eyes, and it made Silver feel slightly uneasy about what she wanted. "I want to know about one of your friends, specifically that other cat faunus that runs around with you, the same one that was in Vale."

"Koel?" Silver queried. "Why would you want to know anything about her?" Her voice was slightly hardened as she asked this, almost protectively, something Coleen made sure to note.

The wolf faunus nodded, her eyes not leaving Silver's own. "Yes, Koel. I want to know what exactly she means to you, and why."

Silver's glare quickly started to resurface. "Why the hell would you want to know something like that?!" She shouted, lightly stomping her foot.

Coleen scoffed at the display. "Goodness, awfully touchy about this, aren't you? All I want to know is what she means to you, how much you care about her, and how much of a friend she is to you. Is that truly asking too much?"

"Coming from you, yes it is!" Silver retorted. "Why do you want to know anything about my sister!?" Silver let the word fall out before she realized it, though she didn't know what exactly that could mean to Coleen at the moment.

She was about to find out pretty soon.

Coleen's eyes widened very slightly at the word 'sister', but they almost immediately narrowed at her, but in a more thoughtful way, and after a few seconds, she turned halfway around to face away from the cat faunus. "So that's what you call her then?" She whispered distantly to herself, though Silver could hear it perfectly.

Silver looked at her confusedly. "What the hell are you talking about? What could any of this possibly mean to you?"

Rather than answer her question, Coleen turned back to Silver, her face back to its cold, emotionless facade. "Tell me, how long have you called her that?"

This question further confused the young leader. "What? Why do you need to know all this?" Coleen sighed at her, and started walking towards Silver again, but this didn't stop her from demanding more questions of her own. "What could Koel possibly mean to you, and why should I tell you anyth-" She was abruptly cut off by Coleen reaching her, and slamming her fist into the steel wall behind her, creating a loud bang that echoed through the otherwise empty room, making Silver's eyes widen in surprise at the sudden action

The wolf faunus locked eyes with her again, this time glowering fiercely at her, easily rivaling Silver's from earlier. "Answer my questions," She whispered harshly, all intention of diplomacy departed. "Since when did you start calling her _your_ sister?" Silver noted the way she put emphasis on the word 'your', and it made her curious as to why.

Silver showed no fear at Coleen's sudden display of hostility, narrowing her eyes as well in a challenging manner. "What if I don't answer your questions?"

The platinum-haired girl didn't have any time to react as she felt a heavy blow to her left cheek, and her head snapped to the side at the impact, her eyes widening yet again as she processed what had just happened. _'She just… she just_ punched _me!'_

She slowly moved her head back into its previous position, finding Coleen's eyes again as she continued to glare daggers at her. "You can expect a lot more of _that_ , let me assure you." She growled in warning. "But all you have to do to avoid it is to just give me the information I want. It's not difficult"

Silver glared back at her, and after noting just how close Coleen was to her at the moment, she decided to retaliate, and she did so in the form of kicking her foot out, solidly connecting with the wolf faunus' stomach. Coleen's eyes widened, and she hunched down in pain at the kick, the wind getting knocked out of her, and she backed up a few steps to recuperate herself.

"That's what I think about you wanting 'information' about my sister." Silver derided as Coleen continued to recover from the sudden kick. "I am NOT going to give you any kind of information on her, no matter what you do!"

Coleen snarled in a very wolf-like manner. "Fine then." she responded in a raspy voice, and she took a few more seconds to fully recover, and once she had, she took a hold of something on her arm that seemed all too familiar to Silver; the handle to her whip, Firecracker. Silver didn't even notice it before, and she suddenly had a very bad feeling about what could happen next, though she had to admit, she did pretty much ask for it. Coleen pressed the button on her whip to activate it. She swung the whip around briefly, before cracking the whip, the popper coming in contact with the wall, directly next to Silver's head, causing her ears to pop slightly at the loud near deafening sound.

Coleen didn't waste any more time, and she then swung the whip around again, this time right in Silver's direction, the parts of the bullwhip from the fall hitch on down quickly wrapping tightly around Silver's neck. Silver gasped as the whip wrapped around her, and she immediately found it just slightly more difficult to breathe, but Coleen didn't let her get used to it, pulling down harshly on the whip, pulling Silver's head down slightly as well, making it even more demanding to breathe as it felt like the whip got tighter around the front of her throat, making her gag faintly at the pressure.

Coleen quickly advanced on her as the younger girl heaved, and when she got to her, she let go of the handle of her whip, clanking against the wall, and she took a hold of the thong of the whip, pulling it more, making the pressure on Silver's neck even tougher to bear. The wolf faunus grabbed Silver by her hair, and pulled her head back against the wall, Silver gasping at the action, breathing heavier from the slightly laborious effort the whip caused. She panted, and once again locked eyes with Coleen, and she could swear that she could see fire in the redheads ashy-gray eyes as she glared heavily.

Coleen growled at her, grinding her teeth together to suppress the urge to brutally chastise Silver on the spot, something that, while she couldn't really afford to do so at the moment, was much more tempting than she wanted. "One last chance for now," she said through her gritted teeth. "As much as I _wish_ I could torture you, unfortunately I can't because I need you to have the ability to speak, so I'll try one more time; how long have you thought of her as you do? And does that other faunus think of her like that too?"

Silver shook her head, her breathing still labored. "I will… NOT tell you anything!" She refused. "And that's… final!"

Coleen again felt the incredible desire to beat the cat faunus, but she quelled it as best she could, reminding herself again that she couldn't quite afford to… yet at least. So instead, she just sighed, irritated at the constant refusal of simple answers. "Fine then, have it your way for now." She grumbled, letting go of the whip, then leaning down to grab the handle that was currently dangling a few feet off the ground. Gripping it, she then untangled Firecracker from Silver's throat, letting her breathe much easier now. She backed up a few feet, the whip dragging on the ground. "But before I go, I'll give you the same kind of discipline my parents used to give when someone misbehaved," she cracked the bullwhip. "Especially me and an old friend." She murmured the last part, but before Silver could question what she meant, Coleen swung the whip at her arm, creating a small, stinging cut over her upper arm. Silver gasped at the unexpected action, and Coleen did it again, making her wince this time.

This went on for a few more seconds, the room being filled with the sound of the loud _crack_ 's from the whip, until Silver had five cuts on her left bicep, grimacing at the pain, while Coleen watched her without any present emotion. After a few more seconds of complete silence, Coleen then pressed the button on Firecracker's handle, and it quickly returned to looking only like a rod. She placed the handle on her forearm, then turned to walk out of the room. "I'll be back later on, hopefully by then you'll smarten up a little." She then walked through the door, closing it behind her, and leaving the teenager in complete darkness yet again.

* * *

Alexandrite led the rest of team SMOK into Rosemead, and they immediately began their frantic search for any clue as to where Silver might have been taken. They had chosen to stay together instead of splitting up due to Alexandrite saying that from her 'past experiences', one of the worst decisions they could make was split up, mainly because they didn't know if the White Fang were still in the village, nor where in the village if they were, and she was worried that if they went separate ways, they could get picked off one by one, and needless to say, that would leave them with very few options as to what they could do next.

But a little bit of good news came a few minutes after they entered Rosemead, when Koel checked her scroll to see if Silver's aura would come up on her contacts, and sure enough, it did, which meant that, since Koel's scroll was connecting to Silver's, where ever it was, that meant they had some kind of connection at all, and Alexandrite didn't waste any time in calling out a distress signal on her own scroll.

They continued their search, going from random road to random road, but unfortunately, not finding some lead to Silver's whereabouts. Something that very much sucked for them was that, even though their scrolls could connect to Silver's to show them her aura, which luckily hadn't gone down much, though that scared them all the same because if her aura had gone down at all, something clearly caused it, and they hated not knowing what did, or how, or when. Then there was the fact that neither Koel's scroll, or Alexandrite's could track the location of Silver's, which confused them as much as it worried them. Despite the fact that they could connect to it, something was somehow getting in the way of tracking it.

As they continued to travel through the ravaged village, the furthest they ever came apart from each other was about half a road, but considering the roads weren't that long, it wasn't saying much, but they wanted to be sure that they did this as safely as they could. It might not have been the most efficient way of finding Silver, but they had to stay together, lest the White Fang show up again.

' _DING'_

Koel's ears instantly stood straight on her head as she faintly heard the strange, high-pitched sound come from seemingly nowhere. She abruptly stopped walking to listen for it again, and she checked around her feet to make sure she didn't step on or kick anything to make the sound, but she didn't find anything, nor did the sound resurface.

Marriott noticed her partner's suddenly alarmed state. "You okay Koel?" She asked, then she saw the raven-haired girl's ears perked straight up on her head. "Did you hear something?"

They noticed that Alexandrite and Olivia had come to a stop as well just a few steps in front of them, looking at them curiously, and Koel slowly nodded. "Y-yeah," she confirmed. "It kinda sounded like a some sort of dinging noise."

"Where did it come from?" Olivia asked quickly.

Koel shook her head this time, looking around them. "I'm not s-sure," she thought harder on the sound. "It almost sounded like it came from below me or something."

Marriott raised a brow skeptically at her. "You didn't kick something, did you?"

Koel snapped her head over to her, a slightly irritated look in her eyes. "No I didn't!" She blushed lightly as soon as she realized how loud she was, and she looked down. "I'm serious, it really did sound like it was below me." She looked up at her older sister. "Didn't you hear it too?"

"… kind of." Alexandrite answered hesitantly. "To be honest, it was so faint to me that I couldn't really tell if it was real, or if it was just my imagination."

"Well, if you think you heard it," Olivia said. "But Koel's sure she heard it, I'm willing to bet it wasn't just your imagination."

"But if it really came from under us, how are we supposed to search for that?" Marriott questioned.

Alexandrite looked as though she was pondering the situation. "Well, even though this will sound pretty vague, but I don't really have another way of saying it; we just have to find something that could lead underground."

They didn't bother speaking more after that, but instead just started searching around the immediate vicinity for something that could do so. They didn't really know what exactly to search for, or what it would look like, they just had to assume that if they would find something, they knew what it was, and what it would lead them to.

Koel walked over to one destroyed house, not really expecting to find something, but she had to try.

Just so long as she didn't find another severed arm.

They had been looking for just a few minutes, but without much luck. The midnight-haired faunus looked around one corner of the house, and after not finding anything (especially not a severed arm), she turned around and went to go look in another part of the once-was house, but as she did so, something sharply bright blinded her for a quick second. She yelped quietly in surprise, shielding her eyes, and walking forward until the glare let down a little, and once it did, she removed her arm from her face to look at what had her rendered sightless, and she found it in the form of a strange metallic, and square object on the ground in the back of the house, the now raised sunlight reflecting light off of it.

"Hey!" She called out. "I found something!" She then started walking towards the object.

This caught the attention of the other three instantaneously. "What is it?" Marriott called back from the other side of the road, quickly making her way across.

Koel knelt down next to the metal item, observing it curiously. "It kinda looks like some sort of hatch."

Alexandrite was the first to get to her, followed closely by Olivia and Marriott, who picked up their pace at Koel's answer. They looked upon it for a few silent moments, before Alexandrite spoke. "I'm guessing that if there's a way to get underground, this would be the obvious way of getting there. Only one way to find out of course." She reached out toward the hatch, grabbing the handle that laid on top of it, and pulling it up, grunting in slight effort. _'Heavier than I wish it was.'_

She pulled it open, the hatch making a small creaking noise at the end, and they looked down the hole that it appeared to cover, and a ladder that led down into it. It was eerily dark, Marriott and Olivia not even able to see how far it led down, but Koel and Alexandrite were capable of doing so, and they judged that it was probably around a ten-foot drop underground.

Marriott whistled as she looked down into the hole. "I guess we found our ticket down." She looked at the other three. "Do we dare go?"

Alexandrite reluctantly nodded, standing straight up from her previous crouching position. "We don't have any better thing to do. We were looking for something that led underground, and we found it, so lets take it."

Olivia and Marriott looked determined, and they nodded, but Koel was much more apprehensive. Something about this didn't seem right to her, she felt like they were going headlong into some sort of trap, but they were indeed looking for something like this, so after a few seconds, she nodded as well in compliance.

Alexandrite nodded herself, and she walked over to the opened hatch. "Alright, then I'll go down first, and tell you if it's safe." She stood over the ladder leading down, and she steeled herself for what they could find, then started slowly climbing down.

She reached the bottom in a few seconds, and she couldn't see anything until her eyes adjusted, and she looked around. It was like some sort of catacomb or something, but no lights lining the halls, though once her eyes had fully adjusted to the lack of lighting, she could see some sort of illumination coming from the end of one hall. She looked back up the ladder, seeing the younger girls looking down at her from the top, and she made a signal for them to come down too, instead of saying so. The light told her there was probably someone down here of course, and she didn't want to alarm them if they were indeed with the White Fang.

After all, who else could this place belong too?"

* * *

' _Ugh, I can't believe this.'_ Was the only thought going through Silver's head at the moment. It had been a while after Coleen left, leaving Silver to her own solitude once more. She could still feel the sting from the cuts Coleen's whip had made on her arm, and for a while, she could fell a very steady flow of blood from the cuts, going across the surface of her upper arm, trailing all the way down to her tricep, and probably dripping to the ground, but she didn't feel it anymore at least.

Of course, she kept thinking about Coleen's little interrogation of her, and her reasons for doing so. It also made her curious as to why she would want to know anything about her family, even if they weren't originally apart of it. Why would she want to know all these things about Koel, and what she thought of her and why, and for how long. They were such strange questions for someone like Coleen to ask, and it also concerned her. What would she do if she saw Koel? Would she hurt her like she had done to her already, or at least try? Or would she try something else, whatever that could be? Silver both wanted to know these things, and at the same time, wanted them to be a mystery for as long as she lived.

' _I've really gotta stop thinking about this, and find a way to help myself already.'_ She thought, trying to get herself off the subject of Coleen's questionnaire on her. She had to find a way to get out of here, because, as much as she wished she could guarantee herself that she would be found, she couldn't promise herself this, or trick herself into believing it, she had to find her own way out, and if she was lucky, she would find her team before they found her, something that, in the end, would have the same relieving result. But how could she do so?

There was absolutely nothing she could think about using in the room, or at least not _yet_ , considering her arms were shackled to the wall currently. Wait…

She looked at the metal cuffs that kept her wrists suspended to the wall. They were bolted to the wall, and she tried moving her wrists, which she barely could, but the cuffs would not so much as budge, but seeing the bolts on the cuffs gave her an idea. _'I wonder what would happen if I tried using my semblance through this arm?'_

She decided she had nothing else to try, so she focused on her semblance, and ran it through her right arm, small bolts of electricity appearing around said arm, and after a few moments, she thought nothing was going to happen, but as soon as she thought that-

' _ **DING'**_

The bolt that was holding the cuff to the wall flew out of its socket, and across the room like a bullet, smacking loudly against the opposite wall, right beside the door. Silver winced at the sheer volume of the sound, it even made her ears ring a little, but it was well worth it now that she felt the cuff starting to fall from the wall. She moved her arm forward into it, causing it to fall all the way, but she caught it before it could hit the floor, not wanting to create anymore noise, even though she was absolutely sure that someone had heard her, and they were probably on their way to her at this moment."At least it worked." She whispered to herself.

She decided to do the same thing on her other arm, focusing her semblance through her left, but now covering the bolt with her now free hand after placing the cuff on the ground, and once the bolt flew out of the socket like the other one, it went straight into her hand, her aura keeping her from feeling much pain that the impact could have caused.

She moved her hand free of the other source of her previous confinement, grateful that she was now alleviated of the discomfort of the incarceration, but now she had a whole new problem; how was she going to get out of here in one piece? Freeing herself of the cuffs was great and all, but now she had to find a way out of this place, something that was a whole new monster entirely. She didn't even know where she was, so how was she going to know where to go here?

"What's going on in there!?" A man shouted from outside the door.

Silver quietly groaned. _'Well, I guess I'll just have to burn that bridge when I actually get to it.'_

She couldn't afford to think ahead of herself here, she just had to do her best to stay in the moment, and play this by ear. She had to make her own plan as she went along, and go along with whatever she encountered, and defending herself from this guy without her wrist blades was the first step in that.

And that actually led to what should be her next objective; find Azurewrath.

' _Nice, making progress already.'_

* * *

 **So there you go, I hope it was good enough to be considered a part of the finale. Again, I'm sorry about this not being the REAL ending, but so many issues arose for me, and part of that was the lack of inspiration I had while writing this. I just really drained for word choice for this chapter, and it really hindered my ability to stay at my computer for an extended amount of time to really get any real work done, then personal stuff got in the way, but I'm not going to go on about petty excuses, and just try my best to finish this once and for all.**

 **If you guys enjoyed this chapter, leave a favorite, and if you enjoy the story, leave a follow (even though there's only just one chapter left), and if you got something to say, leave a review. I'll talk to you guys next time, and for the real last time!**


	25. Erase My Scars-Finale (P2)

**For the love of god and beyond... do I even need to say sorry? Does it even matter...? It doesn't, does it...?**

 **...**

 **You know what, screw any excuse, because who cares about that!? This is the last chapter for real bruhhhh, this is it, THIS is IT, by god, this is finally it! So how about we just forget about my horrible ability to update on a consistent basis, and just have a good time reading.**

 **I sincerely hope this is worth that long-ass wait.**

* * *

Silver heard the rushed footsteps of the shouter approaching the door, and she smirked to herself. This guy had no idea what was coming.

She quickly darted to the other end of the room, and planted herself against the wall next to the door, waiting for the man to open it.

A few seconds later, the door opened, and the man from the White Fang, mask and all, came through. "What the hell was that noise!?" He shouted into the room, of course expecting Silver to be in the same place that she had been, but to his shock, she obviously wasn't, and Silver's smirk grew, trying to suppress the urge to giggle at him. This idiot didn't even see her when he came in.

He turned around, about to run for help in trying to find their escaped captive, but he didn't need to go far in his search, as Silver pounced at him, and before he could defend himself from the surprise attack, she delivered a hard punch to his jaw, his head snapping in the direction of the blow, and he fell to the ground, unconscious. Silver looked down at him for a moment before finally letting out that giggle she had previously stifled. "Dumbass." She whispered to his fallen body, then got right back down to business. _'_ _I got to find Azurewrath, and then I guess I'll just go from there.'_

Silver turned to jog out of the room, not wanting to go to slow, but at the same time, avoid making to much noise. Leaving the room behind, she got to the hall outside it, finally getting a good look at the area surrounding it, which looked like something of a tunnel system, or a catacomb, which told her she was apparently underground, and she didn't know how exactly to feel about that. At least she knew that she was not above ground most likely, but at the same time it just gave her a feeling of dread, knowing that the narrow halls of the place could make for a really onerous time getting out.

She then thought back to her team, and the odds of them even finding this place, something that didn't make her feel pleasant for sure, but she quickly shook her head, figuring she had wasted enough time standing in place, and since she didn't know where exactly to start, she picked one direction to go, and went for it. She was getting a little paranoid about more White Fang coming after her, or Coleen, or someone of that nature, because she was sure that that one guy was not the only one who heard her, so a little insecurity of the situation she felt was very justifiable.

She quickly but quietly made her way down the hall that she had chosen, and it was eerily quiet, but every once in a while she could hear near silent murmurs, which for some reason, just made her feel even more uneasy. She couldn't make out any words, but the voices sounded both near and distant at the same time.

Silver passed by several different rooms, and she attempted at quickly checking all of them, but they were either locked, or completely empty. _'Who would want to stay in a place like this?'_

All these rooms were on the same hall as the one she was locked up in, and she neared the end, but there was still one room to go, and it just so happened that it had been left cracked open. She narrowed her eyes in a questioning way. Why would they just leave a room open like this? Given her luck, Silver wasn't expecting to find Azurewrath.

She walked over to the door to the room, figuring that she might as well check just to be sure, and she gasped as soon as she did, catching sight of her goal. She smiled, unbelieving of her sudden shift in luck, and for the first time in her life, she was happy to be proven wrong about something. Azurewrath rested on a table on the other side of the room, and she quickly made her way across to get it. While she was infinitely grateful to find it, she was even more confused about the room than she already was. It was a question as to why the room was cracked in the first place, it would have been even if there wasn't anything in it, but considering her weapon was in here, unguarded even, was perplexing to say the least. _'I wonder if that guy was actually guarding this room, but still, why was the door open?'_

She probably should have a feeling of this being some sort of trap, but right now, as she began to put Azurewrath back on her wrists, she figured that she didn't really have a right to complain at the moment, she got her wrist blades back, and now she could defend herself mush easier. She would deal with whatever trap this might or might now have been with them.

But, as her luck would have it, her triumphant moment wouldn't last long.

"She got out!" A shout from down the hall, the very direction of her room, sounded off, and she could hear the many footsteps of several others. It seemed everyone that had heard her were finally getting to her location.

"He's down," someone else reported, apparently checking the man that Silver took down. "He was supposed to guarding her weapon too!"

"Get to that room, now!"

' _Shit.'_ Was the first thing Silver thought as she heard them running towards her, finding herself in a very dangerous position yet again. Even though she had Azurewrath again, she couldn't fight off all of them. She obviously couldn't pinpoint how many there were, but based on how many stomps she could hear, it was a fair number for sure. So fighting them off was not an option, not yet at least, if she was going to be forced to fight them, she wants it to be in a more wide-open place, not a small room she could easily be trapped in by their numbers, and she didn't really know of any clever ways she could maneuver her way out of this, nor did she have that much time to think of a way, so that pretty much left one last option. _'I guess I gotta run for it.'_

Even though running is not typically a good idea, Silver didn't know of anything else she could do, so she bent down slightly, ready to go, and after a second of preparation for what she was about to do, she sprung forward and ran as fast as she could out of the room, and right in front of the people that were still running down the hall towards her, only being about halfway. "There she is!"

' _Way to point out the obvious.'_ Silver thought. It helped her that she started at an angle in the room that led her straight into another hallway, not slowing her down at all, but now she had to speed up her mind in finding ways to get out of this place, and now away from everyone chasing her, which just added to her growing list of problems to say the least. Firstly, she has no idea how to get out of here, secondly, if by some miracle she does get out, she then will need to find out where she is in relation to the village, thirdly, she'll need to find her team, and all without being recaptured by the White Fang.

The odds were clearly not in her favor.

' _Ugh, I have no idea what I'm doing, or where I'm going.'_ She frantically thought as she ran into the ends of hallways seemingly all the time. She supposed that one plus to having no idea of the layout of some place like this was that she could confuse her chasers by taking turn-after-turn constantly, but at the same time, it would also make her even more lost than she already is before long.

She also thought that maybe going up some stairs might be the way for her to go, she didn't have any reason to think otherwise after all, and she figured that if these people wanted to keep anyone captive, it would be at the lowest point of their dwelling, at least that's what she could hope for, which is basically all she was going off of now, hope.

At the very least, in going up the stairs she had found, she now could only faintly hear the footsteps, and words were dulled to low murmurs of angry sounding directions of what Silver would guess is something along the lines of "this way", or "no, she went this way", and such, so she could take comfort in knowing that she had lost her immediate pursuers for the most part, but she also knew that no doubt more were searching for her, and it would only truly be a matter of time before she found her way into running straight into someone.

She thought that figuratively of course, so she didn't exactly mean literally…

Rounding a corner quickly, she felt a heavy impact that she didn't even see coming. Silver fell to the ground with a grunt, landing on her behind, but thinking it was someone from the White Fang, she quickly scrambled back up to her feet, but looking up as she did, she stopped halfway when she caught sight of who it was, gasping with wide eyes.

"Alex!?"

"This is a little creepy," Marriott quietly commented as her, Alexandrite, Olivia and Koel made their way deeper into the underground tunnel system of sort in their search of finding Silver. "This is almost like an old, stereotypical horror game or something."

Alexandrite chuckled at that. "If that would be true, I'm sure it would be a horror game that Silver has played before."

Olivia did a double-take at that. "Seriously? I wouldn't have thought of Silver as a gamer of sorts."

The oldest faunus just smiled. "There are probably a lot of things you wouldn't expect from Silver, she is a pretty diverse person once you know her better. But anyway, lets get back to the problem at hand."

"Quick," they heard a shout from around a corner ahead of them, and Alexandrite quickly signaled the younger three to stop. "I got a call from downstairs that the girl got out!" They then heard footsteps quickly make their way away from them.

The four girls stood in shocked silence for a few seconds before Marriott broke it with a small chuckle. "That's about as convenient as we could get."

"You're telling me," Olivia agreed. "They said downstairs, so I guess we have to find a way down there."

"Without getting ourselves caught that is." Koel reminded. "It wouldn't do us much good if we get caught too."

"At least that way we would get to Silver quicker." Marriott shrugged.

"Not if she got out."

Alexandrite sighed at them. "As gripping as this is, we really should get a move on fast before we DO end up getting caught."

The three younger girls quickly quieted down and complied, briskly following behind their instructor. The obvious issue right now for them was obviously not knowing where to go, the only lead for anywhere to go was to turn down the hall that they heard the men talking, but… THEN what? Well, all they could really do was go by instinct, and that basically meant for Olivia and Marriott, listening to whatever the two faunus' said the most noise was coming from, which quickly became their next best lead to get through this place, stopping and listening briefly for where sounds like murmurs, stepping, and at certain times, incoherent yells and shouts, and following them, which they knew was a bit of a double-edged sword kind of strategy, because even though it probably what could help them find Silver, or at least be on the right track, it would more than likely take them on a beeline to the White Fang that they were following, but as long as they found Silver, especially before the White Fang, they'll find a way to get through whatever else they encounter.

Now they were obviously smart enough to try to find a place to get to the apparent downstairs in this underground base of sorts, and once they did, the noises got even louder and a little clearer as they approached the steps to go down, but as they did so, they also passed by a corner to another hallway, and what they did not expect was someone coming around said corner at full-speed.

A mutual "OOF" was shared between Alexandrite and whoever had crashed into her, and she would have fallen down if not for Koel quickly wrapping her arms around her waist, and as she tried to recover from the sudden backlash the impact caused, she could hear the person shuffling to get back up-

"Alex!?

Alexandrite snapped her head at the sound of the thankfully familiar voice, and she gasped at seeing who it was, but she quickly recovered and sprang forward at Silver, embracing her sister tightly in relief, as if she would disappear again. "Silver!" She rasped with raw emotion ever present in her voice. "Gods, I can't believe we've already found you."

Silver returned the embrace immediately with equal strength, burying her face in Alexandrite's neck, relieved beyond words and definition, and suddenly feeling as safe as she ever could in her arms. She knew they still had to find a way out without getting caught by the White Fang again, but Alexandrite's presence never ceased to make Silver feel completely protected. Silver looked past her sister to her team as well, Koel looking like she was about to cry tears of joy, Olivia merely sighing in relief, but a ghost of a smile playing on her lips, and Marriott who was smiling brightly at her, and Silver returned their looks with her own small smile.

Silver pulled away from the hug after a few seconds, and saw Alexandrite's expression suddenly harden into a fierce scowl as she looked past her shoulder, and Silver turned her head to see a few White Fang members approaching the flight of stairs behind her. "Get behind me." The brunette faunus ordered solidly, not like Silver had much choice because she was shoved behind her as soon as she said that. Alexandrite drew Catharsis from its sheath on her hip, and it almost immediately began to glow a semi-bright red. Seeing this, everyone in front of her stopped, staring both curiously and apprehensively, having no idea what was going on, but Alexandrite didn't give them any time to figure it out, and slashed Catharsis through the open air, releasing the pent up energy from her sword, completely surprising the White Fang members. The blast of energy slammed into them, throwing them back to where they came from.

Alexandrite turned back around, and she smiled when she saw Koel hugging Silver tightly from behind. "That felt good," she said, but went straight to a more serious demeanor, still quite aware of their current situation. "But now that we got Silver, we need to backtrack our way out of here."

No reply was made at first as Koel let go of Silver, and they let Alexandrite take the lead again, who made sure to keep Silver close to her in the process, but Olivia soon voiced a part of their concerns. "How exactly are we going to do that?" Alex stopped in her tracks at the question. "That's like saying we have to backtrack out of a maze, which is basically what this is."

"Who would even design a base or whatever like this?" Marriott asked to no one in particular, but it was something that had been on her mind from the moment they entered.

"I don't know," Alexandrite replied. "But we better think of a way to get out of here before they get to us."

Meanwhile, Silver was looking around their area to try to find something that could somehow be helpful, and in looking straight above them, she found something that gave her an idea. "Look up there." She told the others, pointing above them. They did so, and noticed that what Silver was pointing to was an oddly looking and colored part of the ceiling.

"That… looks like the floor of a house or something." Alexandrite observed. "Do you have an idea Silver?"

The younger faunus nodded. "If it really is the floor to a house, then we can try destroy it, then we'll just need to climb out. Considering the state of all the houses in Rosemead, I figure it won't hold up to much right now."

The brunette hummed. "Any idea right now is a good one in my opinion, until proven otherwise. Let's try it."

Silver nodded again, moving directly under the area. "I'll try using my semblance on it, see if I can at least do a decent amount of damage."

She lowered slightly in a squatting position, and started to build electricity in her right hand. The others backed up to give her room, and to also avoid getting any crossfire. Silver continued building the charge until almost her entire lower arm was encased in an electric casing, and she thrust her arm up towards the ceiling/floor (that's slightly confusing), and released all the electricity that she had built up above her into the area of the odd looking ceiling, and the electricity crashed into it, creating a semi-loud crash sound, actually making her cringe a little at the sound. As the electricity faded from the spot, they started to hear a small crumbling sound from the area, and saw cracks starting to form.

"It's about to go down," Silver said. "I think we just need to blow on it and it will."

"I can do that." Alexandrite volunteered, moving a couple steps forward, and bringing her sword up. She concentrated on her semblance, and a small, light blue ball started to form on the tip of catharsis. She pointed up at the cracked area, and shot the small ball of energy at it, which caused the part to come crashing down a couple seconds later. They all moved back a little to avoid being hit by the falling shrapnel. Once the dust in the air had cleared, they could see light coming through the now open hole above them, and they could finally see the blue sky.

"That actually worked," Alexandrite said, relieved, and sheathing Catharsis. "Now quick, lets get out of here."

The younger four didn't need to be told anything more, and Olivia was the first to take the invitation out, as she looked up through the new escape route (which wasn't really a route, it was just a freaking hole), swiping her arm out in front of her, and she was gone from sight in a mere second. Alexandrite saw what happened, and looked at Silver with a surprised and somewhat startled look, too which the younger faunus shrugged. "Her semblance is teleportation."

Alexandrite slowly nodded, then took her own invitation out, and wall-jumped her way through the hole, then Marriott followed, taking Maroonmite and swinging at the wall to get it stuck, using it to pull her up. Marriott and Alexandrite then helped pull up Silver and Koel to them as well, and just like that, all of them were out of the tunnel-like system, and back on the grounds of the village, standing in the remains of a house, just as Alexandrite had guessed.

The brunette faunus sighed in great relief. "Thank goodness that worked." She looked over to the others. "I sent out a distress signal when we got to the village, so we better head out through the forest one more time to get to where they'll land." Then she noticed something. "Where's Olivia?"

And apparently the other girls didn't know either, judging by their confused, and slightly alarmed expressions as they started looking around.

"Over here." They heard the familiarity of the clear, deep voice of the missing person. They looked over at the side of the house they heard her, and she was walking toward them with her usual blank expression, but a small bit of amusement in her eyes. "If we weren't in the situation we are, I would say that the looks on your faces were freaking hilarious."

Silver rolled her eyes at her. "Olivia, what were you doing over there?"

The orange-haired girl waved dismissively. "It's how my semblance works; I have to be able to see where I'm going, so since I couldn't exactly see the floor here, I had to aim for that wall instead. "She explained, pointing over her shoulder to said wall.

"Okay," Marriott said. "Cool, but do we really have time for this?"

"No we don't." Alexandrite quickly responded. "We have to go now, lest we get caught again." She turned to leave the house, signaling over her shoulder to the young team to follow, which they did so without hesitation.

"I can't believe they haven't already." Olivia remarked. "We have been kinda standing around for awhile."

"I'm not going to complain." Koel replied quietly. "I'd rather it stay that way."

No one said anything afterward, but it was clear that they all agreed on that, and really, all they wanted to do was leave this place behind them, and move on to better days, maybe some that would come with a smaller chance of kidnapping, and Coleen for that matter.

Though, it's been clear for awhile now that luck has not exactly been their best friend of late.

After some number of minutes they really didn't care about to keep track of, they could see the opening to the forest, and what a relief it was. All they had to do was just trudge through it one more time, and then wait for the bullhead to come and pick them up, and just like that, this nightmare would finally be over.

But things never went that simply.

' _ **CRACK'**_

They froze before the forest at the loud sound that came from behind them, and Silver groaned. "You have GOT to be kidding." She whispered, not at all wanting to look behind her.

But as she was about to anyway, more sounds went off.

' _ **BANG, BANG'**_

' _That sounds like bullets!'_ She frantically thought, and instinct told her to move as fast as she could to her left, and luckily instinct didn't steer her wrong as she avoided the unexpected projectiles.

"Oh well," a voice said. "I thought stepping out for a while would be a good way to cool off, but apparently I left you in the wrong hands in doing so."

'Well shit, no kidding.'

Silver turned her head back to look, despite the fact that she already knew who it was, and she growled in the back of her throat at seeing for sure. There she was, the source of all that had gone wrong for as long as they had been here. There was Coleen, Firecracker in hand, the bottom of the handle facing them, looking ready to shoot again, but instead of her usual, sickening smirk, she instead wore a near expressionless, blank face, another look she often had as well.

"Oh gods," Silver groaned. "What do you even want with me? What is so appealing to me that makes you stalk around me all the time now!?"

"Well that's jumping to conclusions," Coleen scoffed, rolling her eyes. "In truth, it's really not you that I'm after, it just so happens that you seem to always be around." Silver saw her eyes flash briefly to Koel, who currently had her hands on her pouch, ready to grab her daggers if need be, then the wolf faunus' eyes looked back at Silver with clear vexation. "You really are annoying, you know that?"

Alexandrite derided at that. "You're one to say so, considering that you have caused hell for us here, and from what I've heard about you, you've already done so to them," she gestured to the young team behind her. "Before we even got here." She glared heavily at Coleen. "Yeah, Silver sure is annoying."

Despite the sarcasm and glare, Coleen looked at her practically unperturbed. "Well, when you put it that way I suppose. If I recall correctly, you called that little troublemaker your sister."

"Right, and that is why you're not touching her again." Alexandrite places her hand on the hilt of Catharsis.

Coleen saw this, and heard the protective edge to her voice. "Awfully gallant aren't you?" She commented. "Commendable, I like that, but you've got it wrong now, I don't have a need for her currently, no, instead," she looked at Koel again. "It's HER I want this time."

Koel's eyes widened before furrowing slightly and whispering. "M-me?"

Alexandrite looked suspiciously, but kept her glare hard. "Well that's too bad, because you can't have her either!"

Coleen sighed in exasperation. They just couldn't make this easy could they? Though it did seem clear that they were fairly close, so what else would they do but be protective of one another. After all, that's how she herself used to be as well.

… how she used to be.

Coleen shook her head. _'No time to think about that now.'_ She reminded herself. The wolf faunus looked back over at Alexandrite, gripping her whip tighter. "Listen here, I'll give you one chance at complying, I don't have any desire to fight you, and I'm sure you feel the same. Can't just make this a little easier for both of us?" She tried her best to seem as least hostile as she could at the end.

"No," Alexandrite immediately refused as she continued to glower. "I'm not letting you have either of my sisters, I don't care what you need them for, they stay with me unless they choose otherwise." Her voice was hard with her typical doughty determination and protectiveness. No one was taking them away from her, she was going to make damn sure of that. Their parents were gone before she had the true ability to protect them, but now that she is who she is, she's going to make sure that no one is taken from her again, especially Koel or Silver, and if they were, she'll find some way to get them back, no matter the cost, though she's pretty sure she has already proven that by getting Silver.

Coleen merely sighed again and dropped her head in annoyance. "Suit yourself then. I can use force."

Quickly and suddenly, Coleen swung the whip around at Alexandrite, who swiftly jumped back to avoid it. She unsheathed Catharsis completely, and took her stance, ready to fight off the wolf faunus. She looked at the young team, also looking set to fight, but she wasn't going to have any of that. "Go now, all of you." She all but commanded, and they looked at her wide-eyed in surprise, apprehension clear in their features, and now looking ready to protest, but she shook her head. "It's alright, I'll be fine, I just want you all to get to the end of the forest and wait for the bullhead, I'll be there with you soon."

They obviously didn't want to obey, but at this point, they probably didn't have much choice because Alexandrite would send them away as soon as they tried to stay, and besides that, Silver and Koel were of course around, and they knew better than anyone else that their older sister could patently take care of herself. After all, she wouldn't be who she is if she couldn't, and knowing this, Silver dubiously nodded her head in agreement. "Alright, fine." Her team now looked at her in surprise. "Alex can handle herself, she'll be fine I'm sure, so right now, let's get through the forest."

"Right." Koel agreed, knowing the reason for the decision, while Marriott and Olivia still looked at them, unsure if they were really making the correct decision, but if there was one thing they had learned about the two sisters is that once their minds are set on something, it is infinitely difficult to sway their minds, and they had to have confidence in them, so while they weren't quite as quick to adhere to, they did eventually.

Without another word, the four ran into the forest, leaving behind Alexandrite and Coleen to settle the current conflict for themselves only. The cat faunus never took her eyes off of the wolf faunus for a second, watching every move, obviously not wanting to give any opening for an attack, and Coleen did as well, but where as Alexandrite watched calmly and stolidly, there was a clear aggravation and ire practically resonating from Coleen's body, and it was evident in her eyes and they way she was gripping her whip so tightly that her knuckles had long turned white by now.

But despite the looks, her voice remained even. "You do realize that you'll regret this right?"

The young but experienced huntress didn't waver. "Speak for yourself, I'm sure I'll be just fine."

Coleen's face scrunched in anger, and her eyes narrowed in a dangerous glare. "Is that so?" She somehow found a way to grip the whip even harder. "Then let us test that theory, shall we?"

Alexandrite narrowed her eyes as well, and readied herself for the ensuing battle. "Let's."

Coleen wasted no more time, and dashed forward in a charge, swinging the whip around at Alexandrite, who backed away, sidestepped, and ducked away to avoid, then she took the offensive, rushing the wolf faunus and getting up close in seemingly a heartbeat, and she started to swing and slash, but Coleen took the same defensive route she had before, sidestepping and ducking away from Catharsis, but after a few seconds Alexandrite left herself open to counter with a particularly powerful slash, and Coleen backed away far enough to swing Firecracker back around in a way in which it wrapped around Alexandrite's left forearm.

Coleen made sure to not squander the opportunity, and she pulled in part of the whip to the point that one of her hands was holding the whip just below the transition knot so she could get the best grip she could. She turned herself around so that her back was partially to Alexandrite, and she yanked the whip over her shoulder with enough power to make sure the cat faunus was taken with the whip. Alexandrite gasped sharply as she was roughly and forcefully pulled from her previous position, and around by the sheer power of Coleen. Her feet were taken slightly off the ground as she was pulled, and she had to break her fall with her free hand to keep a minimal balance at least, but Coleen wasn't done. The redhead pulled Alexandrite toward her, and kicked once she was close. Alexandrite blocked it just in time with her own leg, but since she was still moving forward, it left her unbalanced and thus wide open yet again, and Coleen attempted to take advantage by throwing a punch at her stomach, but Alexandrite somehow managed to block it at the last second and push the hand away, then the wolf faunus tried a right hook at her face, but still the cat faunus found a way to avoid it.

But after all these blocked attacks and near misses, Alexandrite was so off balance that it was only a matter of time before something landed, and eventually something did when she pulled the huntress back to her and this time landed a sweeping kick to her left hip, then a knee to her stomach that knocked the wind out of her and sent her staggering back.

However, that allowed her wrist to become free of the whip's grip, and as she staggered back, she knew she needed to do something to keep herself from getting completely beaten down before landing a hit of her own, but the only thing she could right now is blindly swing Catharsis in visionless defense. She could faintly hear Coleen approaching, and all she could do was sightlessly throw her sword out in front of her.

She heard a sharp gasp, and looked up to see Coleen starting to back away, a shocked expression on her face as she looked down at her arm, and Alexandrite saw a semi-large cut just above her wrist, running the length of the front of her left forearm horizontally.

Given the luck of the situation, Alexandrite made sure to capitalize. While Coleen was lost in her shock, Alexandrite charged forward, Catharsis beginning to gleam a dull red. Coleen realized what was going on right when the huntress was practically on top of her, and jumped back just in time to avoid an upward slash, but couldn't do the same when Alexandrite quickly jumped at her and gave a powerful thrust at Coleen's chest, causing her aura to pulse forcefully against her front. She fell, landing on back, but back-flipped as she did so to stop herself from sliding further back. Kneeling, she looked back up at Alexandrite, and the brunette could see the sheer anger and hatred in her ashy-gray eyes, and before she knew it, she was charging back at her.

They began a very even back-and-forth sequence with each other, neither one getting a pronounced advantage over the other, but after a while Alexandrite started to get more aggressive with her attacks, leaving Coleen with not too many chances to return the favor, or even counter back, and leaving her in almost a purely defensive standpoint.

The cat faunus continued to go on the offensive, her aggressiveness building from one attack to the next, hacking and slashing at her adversary, her strikes becoming increasingly more difficult to avoid for Coleen as they continued with no hesitation, something that Alexandrite had always been great at since her days at Beacon, that she could strike hard, fast, and strongly, but find ways to not waste to much breath or time between or during her assaults. She eventually got her chance to land a hit when Coleen narrowly dodged a downward attack that left her off her equilibrium long enough for Alexandrite to hit with an upward strike straight to her abdomen, strong enough to knock her back and off her feat, landing near a tree.

At this point, Alexandrite had to find a way to get a distinct advantage as both of them have been pretty evenly matched so far, so she decided to finally use her semblance for the first real time in the fight. She quickly charged up a small bit of energy in her blade, knowing she didn't have a lot of time to charge something really serious. The ball of energy became a dark blue as she charged it up, and it was only the size of a baseball, but it was more of a set up attack rather than a real damaging one. Coleen, now recuperated from the previous attack, eyed her curiously as she took in the sight, then a look of recognition flashed over her face as she recalled the kind of ball she was almost hit with the day before, and she smirked a little, knowing she had a great counter for this, little known by her opponent.

Alexandrite, unaware of the chance she was taking, took the smirk from Coleen as a sort of challenge, and unleashed the ball of energy at the redheaded wolf faunus. At first it didn't look like Coleen was going to react at all, but when the ball was a little over halfway to her, she spread her arms out around to her sides, and the barrier like structure spawned right in front of her, the ball of energy disintegrating as it made contact while the barrier didn't waver whatsoever.

Obviously not expecting that, Alexandrite gasped in shock at the sight, but didn't have much time to marvel at it or wonder how it happened, because as soon as the ball deteriorated completely, Coleen powerfully swung Firecracker at the barrier, immediately making it shatter into several different shard like pieces, all directed straight at the brunette faunus, but Coleen shattered the wall in a way so that none of the 'shards' would actually hit her.

"Whoa!" Alexandrite gasped yet again in surprise, turning to the side so that her front didn't get hit, and shielding the side of her face with Catharsis, awaiting the incoming pain from the shards, but nothing ever happened as they all flew past her, none of them actually hitting, and she took her blade from her line of sight just in time to see Coleen charging headlong at her, swinging the whip once more, which Alexandrite narrowly avoided, and with that, they began a back-and-forth volley with each other of blocked attacks, expert evasions, and every once in a while, a small hit, that would slowly wither down their aura's.

After a while of this, Alexandrite could tell Coleen was getting tired judging by her sluggish movements that were a little slower and delayed than the last, and she figured that she probably wasn't much better than the wolf faunus, but from avoiding one last attack, she saw an opening in Coleen's stance as she tried to recover, so Alexandrite charged forward yet again, taking the same approach as she had earlier in their fight, or that's what she wanted Coleen to think.

Coleen recovered enough just in time to see Alexandrite rushing her, and thinking that she was indeed taking the same approach, went to defend her front, and take an opportunity to counter the oncoming attack, but the huntress quickly darted to the side, and given Coleen's tired and sluggish movements and reactions, she didn't give herself enough time to block another side as Alexandrite expertly rotated Catharsis in her hand so that the blade was facing the ground, and she hit Coleen in the temple with the butt of the handle, making her stumble to the side in a heavy daze, her aura being the only reason she wasn't knocked out then and there.

At this point in the fight, Alexandrite was sure both their aura's were low enough that one last good hit would certainly finish everything, and seeing the opportunity that has been given, now was the time to do just that, and to ensure herself that she could do that, she would have to channel her semblance, and to do _that_ , she had to get angry, and lucky for her, she had a lot to be angry about.

She started to remember everything that had happened up to now, Silver getting attacked, then _kidnapped_ , this woman then having the nerve to demand Koel, she even started thinking back to her parents, memories that never ceased to get her absolutely livid, the fact that she didn't have the ability to help them, protect them, _save them,_ and all the sleepless nights she had caused by several nightmares of losing her sisters, or her old teammates and friends…

By this point, Catharsis was starting to luminesce brightly, shine and gleam a bright red, and she made the energy flowing through the blade bundle at the tip, a ball almost as big as a soccer ball forming.

Coleen had just started to come out of her daze, and looked up to see what was happening, her eyes widening as she saw the ball of bright red energy forming on Alexandrite's sword, but as soon as she realized what was going on, her opponent had already started to release it.

With a cry of effort, Alexandrite swiped Catharsis sharply across her body, launching the ball of energy directly at Coleen. Coleen tried to spawn a shield as quickly as she could react, but whether it just wasn't strong enough or the ball was to powerful, the shield didn't hold up when the energy made contact, shattering on impact, and sending the wolf faunus flying back and into a tree, falling to the ground motionlessly, unconscious.

Alexandrite watched her fall to the ground after hitting the tree, panting heavily, and suddenly feeling as fatigued as she ever has, but she knew she couldn't just lay down now, she now had a chance to truly finish everything, but that brought up a conflicting feeling, she had never been a killer unless it was Grimm, and while this woman seemed anything but nice, she was still a human being, and never in her life had she ended a man or woman's life before, she didn't know how to follow through with taking someones life. Call her a wimp, but she just couldn't bring herself to even think about killing someone.

Her ears flicked as she heard a very dull roar through the trees, which must mean the bullhead had arrived and was just now landing outside the forest, and assuming this made her decision simple. _'I have to get back to the others, I'll let someone else deal with this place, I never want to come back here again.'_

At that thought, she ignored the fallen body of the wolf faunus, and ran into the forest with what little energy she had left.

* * *

 **Well, that's that. I hope you guys enjoyed, especially that fighting scene, because that honestly gave me a lot of issues to get inspiration for. Keep in mind that there will be a short little epilogue this weekend, and yes, I mean THIS weekend, hopefully tomorrow specifically, though I do have to help my parents with some stuff, so we'll see.**

 **I'm so glad you guys have stuck with me for this long, and I hope you'll still be here when I start "volume 2" of this little SMOK series. Thanks again guys, I'll talk to you guys in the epilogue, then we'll be off to the next story!**


	26. Epilogue-Overhanging danger

**As promised, here is the epilogue, but before that, I want to do something that I meant to do in the A/N's from last time that my awake-at-two-A.M.-mind couldn't quite remember to do (and yes, that's really how late it was when I uploaded it), and that's respond to what Nemasis Demarini said, something that seems to be a bit of a theme for this story.**

 **I do indeed realize that I 'lie' a lot when saying stuff about the story, especially when I say when I'm going to upload a new chapter, and to everyone that reads this story I sincerely apologize for that because I know it can get confusing and annoying, but sometimes I have to call some audibles for the story and change things around, and other times I just don't have enough time to work on the story, especially this late in the school year, plus my birthday being a couple weeks ago, then my sister's birthday which was just yesterday, so a lot goes on at this time of the year for me.**

 **And the thing about Silver and the thing about pushing something away from her, could I ask you to specify exactly what you mean, because I'm kind of an idiot and need some specification for some things so that I could completely understand some things, and once you give me an answer, I'll add a note to this as a true answer to your question. Sorry if you think it's something that couldn't be put any simpler, but I'm one of those stupid high school students who has no freaking clue about how they've gotten this far, but I will say, speaking about Olivia and how I've written out Silver's observations of her, we haven't yet seen Olivia's thoughts about Silver because there hasn't been a chapter specifically about Olivia since her introduction, which I intend to do next story, just in case that's what you meant by one sided.**

 **I'll be waiting for a reply, and with that, here's the epilogue.**

* * *

 _*A week after Rosemead*_

For Coleen, it had become so difficult to sleep at night, after all that had happened a week ago. She couldn't believe it had all happened, it was hard to think about, it all just felt like a dream, all of it.

She had ordered someone to do research on those girls, where they came from, and why, because she wanted nothing more now than to get them back to say the least, especially that older cat faunus.

Though she did have to give credit where credit is due, that one had some serious fighting skill, she certainly knew what she was doing in a fight, absolutely no shortage of talent, and along with that, Coleen knew she had underestimated her, which is one of the worst things to do in a fight, or anything for that matter, never, NEVER underestimate your opponent, lest you get totally torn down like Coleen had.

But she was going to make sure that she wouldn't do that anymore, no matter who she faces. At least it was a learning experience.

"Coleen." Someone interrupted her train of thought, and she looked behind her to see the one she had put on research duty, a male husky faunus. "I have the kind of information you need, and pretty much all that I could gather at that."

Coleen just nodded. "Than out with it."

The husky faunus nodded. "That woman you fought is named Alexandrite Porcello, she is a former student at Beacon Academy, one of the most successful ones as well. Those four other girls however are actually a freshman team at Beacon right now, they were here for their first mission in fact." This fact kind of surprised Coleen, and heightened her interest. "Their names are Silver Porcello, the leader of the team, Olivia Doncieux, Silver's partner, Marriott Stoute, A successful tournament fighter in Vacuo, and… I'm sure you don't need me to tell you the last one." His voice became a lot softer at the end.

The wolf faunus nodded numbly. "Of course you don't. She responded quietly.

An uncomfortable silence broke out for a few seconds, the male faunus shifting uncomfortably before finally breaking it. "So, may I ask what intend to do with this information, if anything?"

Coleen shrugged, her expression indifferent and unreadable. "In all honesty, I didn't exactly need personal information, but I just figured that whatever happens from here on out will make ruining them a little more… satisfying I suppose."

"Ruining them you say?"

* * *

 **I'll see you guys next story.**

Coleen waved him off. "Pretty simple. Let's just say that next time I see them, I'll personally take care of removing them from Beacon's roster."

This was clearly just the beginning of many future events.


	27. I have returned!

**Hey guys, I'm just going to get to the point and say I'm really sorry for, basically disappearing from FanFiction without so much a warning or trace, but I've had a pretty… interesting summer, to the point where I could never really sit down and do much in the way of writing, and after a while of not really doing anything, I just lost all… drive I suppose to really come back here, and motivation to do anything became a serious obstacle.**

 **I really should have at least SAID that I was in a slump to say the least, but I never really made an effort to do much of ANYTHING. Yeah, I'm a terrible person, aren't I?**

 **I know that at least some of you have probably been wanting volume 2 of Up In SMOK, though I hadn't gotten any messages about it, so either you guys were extremely freaking patient, or you just gave up on me and writing like I kind of did to myself, but either way, let me just say that I WILL upload the first couple chapters in the next few days.**

 **Let me just say that there were some things that added to my lack of inspiration, and one of the main things was losing all my notes that I had for the future of this story, and that was when I was finally getting myself back together. You see, I had them all in a notebook, but while me and my family were cleaning up our house, I threw out that notebook because I mistook it for an older one that looked just like it, and I didn't realize this until a few days later, and when this happened, I basically said "you know what, fuck it, I got nothing to go off of now, I might as well not even try."**

 **If you can't tell, I have a bit of a tendency to give up MUCH faster than I should.**

 **I have also had the typical stress of a normal high school student, and even though my school year doesn't start until the end of this month, I have still been mega-stressing about it, because I'm gonna be a senior, and I have to do so many damn things for myself, between making a senior exit project (which I have NO clue how to do), deciding where I'm going to go to college at, when I will, and I also need to get a job on top of this.**

 **Let me tell you, when I start stressing out about things, I get scared, and that leads to me assuming the worst of what could happen, and THAT leads to me becoming even more stressed than when I began, and it just loops all around until I mentally break down completely, and then it just starts all over again.**

 **All of this has led to me practically forgetting about my story, and writing this right now, I feel so terrible for it, so I will try my absolute hardest to upload as much as I can, but I will warn you that updates at some points may be few and far between, to the point where I wouldn't really be surprised if it takes an entire year before this is all done, but even then, I will at least attempt to kick myself into a right enough mental state to tell you guys that I won't be able to upload at that moment.**

 **Allow me real quick to send a bit of a message to Nemasis Demarini here, I know I never did answer your question from a few months ago, and let me say that if you meant something like leading Silver's emotions on, then I do feel think that would make it interesting, even though I didn't really see that I was doing something like that, though I do like to stress her attention to detail because that's something I gave her that's based off of myself, which I did for all of my characters. If you meant something else, tell me and I guess elaborate if you can, 'cause I'm one of those people that needs a few bones thrown their way before that fully get it. Yeah, sue me. But I promise I will reply quickly, though it will probably be when I upload the prologue for volume 2 (which again, will be in the next few days), which is called Up in SMOK-Dissolve by the way, I do remember you asked what it was called. And one last thing here, thanks for pointing out to me that I said prologue instead of epilogue. I get those mixed up all the freaking time, and I won't be surprised if I do that again in the future.**

 **I hope you guys can forgive me for this previously unexplained hiatus, but it is over now, and I will get back to writing and uploading. If you have any further questions, or anything to comment, go ahead, and I'll get to replying to them, and if I can squeeze in a shameless plug here, follow me on Twitter N8TheGr8_99 if you want any further updates on what I'm doing in writing or whatever, that might be where I update you guys on the status of the story, or me as a writer in general. That covers about everything I wanted to say. See you guys in a few days now!**


	28. New Story Up!

**Just an alert here for you guys that haven't seen that have been waiting for volume 2 of Up In SMOK, it is up now, prologue and first chapter!**


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